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I tilt my head in thought. “Hm. How about fifty years?” I smile at him. He rolls his eyes and grabs my hand. Aiden and I are sitting next to each other in the conference room. All the directors are sitting at the table in their different color suits. The new director looks nervous, but does a decent job trying to hide it.

My dad coughs and we both look towards him. “Like I was saying. We have an offer.” He smiles. “We would like to open a sort of public defender’s office in the Reaper’s Court department and would like you to run it and train new hires. Every reaper deserves representation and so far—you are the only one. You would be reporting to Director Barrett. What do you think?”

I open my mouth then close it. Aiden squeezes my hand. I take a deep breath. “No.”

Everyone looks at me in shock. The only person not surprised is Aiden. He chuckled at my dad’s offer knowing very well what my response was going to be. They all expected me to agree. But I have other plans.

My dad stutters a bit as he says, “E-excuse me?”

I smile. “I have my own offer for you all.” Aiden's grip on my hand tightens in support. I’ve been talking to him about this for a while now.

“I don’t want to work under anyone.” I look at the director of Reaper’s Court and say, “No offense.”

Director Barrett shrugs. “None taken.”

“I much rather run my own show. A law firm of sorts where I’ll represent reapers but also provide mediation services to reapers. I’ll not only handle cases where reapers violated the rules, but I’ll also handle issues between reapers. A criminal and civil reaper firm of sorts. If I work at the department like you want, I would be only handling cases involving the RCC.”

I finish and take a deep breath. I really like my idea and what I can do with the new firm. My passion for being a lawyer slowly came back through my time here. I’ve healed my past trauma. While I have Aiden to thank for pushing towards healing, it’s really me who did it. I wouldn’t have been able to do it if I didn’t take the time to forgive myself for holding on to guilt that was never mine. This firm can be a new beginning for me, which is ironic considering I’m in the afterlife.

Director Onai laughs. “She sure is your daughter. Straight to the point.”

“She sure is,” my dad says proudly. He contemplates my proposal for a moment then clasps his hands. “How about instead of a ‘firm of sorts’, we just make it a separate department?” I gasp and squeeze Aiden’s hand tightly. He squeezes back in support.

“A whole department?” I whisper, my eyes still wide with shock.

“Well, we aren’t going to give you half.” He chuckles. “Shall we all vote?” The directors nod their heads in unison.

“All in favor of Joyce having her own department raise your hand,” my father announces. I stop breathing as every Director raises their hand. He looks around the room then to me.

“Congratulations, my daughter. You are now Director Joyce Parker.”

32

SO HELP ME…GOD?

It’s been a year since everything went down at Eden. Joey and Director Young went through trial and were sentenced to two-hundred years in Hell, then reincarnation. Gratefully, they will never become a reaper again, nor will they have any memories of being one.

New safety measures were put in place to avoid that situation from happening ever again, including restrictions on the use of department tattoos. Now that I have my own department, I have my own number—seven. Originally, the IT department had that number, but they merged with the Reaper’s Resources department when the director retired.

Aiden and I still share an office. I love looking up from my desk and being able to see him. The office sex doesn’t hurt either. Ever since we tied our souls, we can feel each other’s emotions and pain. We also know each other’s exact location. The location thing is super cool because now that I’m a reaper, I can teleport. So, I can randomly pop up to wherever Aiden is.

Teleporting took some time to get used to. But I can finally pick up my own bottles of champagne without needing a ride. That does not mean I won’t steal them from the lounge from time to time though. I like the rush.

Another thing the bond gave us is the ability to feel each other’s emotions. It can get annoying, especially when he’s hungry because I can feel his agitation. But I’ve loved every second of being soulmates. There aren’t many reapers who have tied their souls, which I understand. It’s a huge commitment. You are literally stuck with this person for the rest of eternity. So, even if they leave all the cabinets open after you told them a million times to freaking close it, you’re stuck.

I glance down at my ring finger to see the permanent red design wrapped around where a ring would go. Aiden has the same design on his ring finger too. Every couple who ties their soul has their own special design. I can’t help but wish it was gold. Red doesn’t really match with my aesthetics.

Currently, I have on a dark purple suit with white sneakers. My feet need a break from heels. Now, I wear purple suits all the time. I chose it as my department color. The directors would not budge on the idea of letting me wear whatever suit color I wanted at any time. You win some, you lose some.

My curls look fantastic, courtesy of a great twist-out. Last thing I needed was my twist-out to not come out right. Why? Because Aiden would have to watch me have a complete meltdown. But that didn’t happen. At least not this time.

In conclusion, I look fantastic. Since I'm a director, I make sure to look good all the time. I’m the boss. The big kahuna. I always knew this day would come.

My thoughts are interrupted when my father snaps his fingers in front of my face. I look at him in confusion.

“Director Parker, are you paying attention?” he asks. I look around the table to see the other directors looking at me with humor on their faces.

“Yes, of course,” I reply, knowing damn well I have no idea where we’re at on the agenda.