Page 65 of We All Live Here
“Do what?” Lila is struggling to keep up. “Hang on, what—what did you destroy?”
Celie looks down at her plate. “Nothing,” she says primly.
Lila is about to protest when her phone rings.
“How come you’re allowed your phone—” Violet begins, but Lila holds up a hand.
“Anoushka?”
“Are you sitting down?”
“Yes?”
“A hundred and seventy thousand.”
Lila blinks, takes a moment to register what she has just heard. “Are you serious?”
“For two. I think I can push them to one eight five but—”
“No! No! That’s fantastic! Oh, my goodness, Anoushka, that’s amazing news!”
“We retain world rights so there should be further sales available through translation. They’ve sent me a very compelling marketing plan, and they say this will be one of their tent-pole publications for next year. So I think it’s good news, darling.”
Anoushka talks on about the minutiae of the deal, giving her a breakdown of the negotiations and where there may still be “wiggle room,” but Lila is barely listening. She feels almost weak with relief. She says, “Yes,” when it seems appropriate, but her brain has basically become a giant humming thing. Her financial woes are solved. Her house will remainher house. When she finally ends the call, the rest of the table is looking at her expectantly. “I’ve got a good deal for my new book.” She is beaming. “I wrote four chapters and my agent sent it to a publisher and they’ve offered me a good deal.”
“How about that! Two pieces of good news!” Gene reaches across to hug her. She accepts it a little stiffly. “We should have a glass of champagne!”
“They don’t do champagne here,” says Lila, who has noted that Gene is two beers in.
“Is it a fiction book?” says Violet, lining up her crusts in a row at the side of her plate. Lila picks up her knife and fork again. “Um, no. It’s—it’s non-fiction.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s more about…real-life stuff.”
“What real-life stuff?” says Celie.
“Uh—it’s about—uh…” Lila is flummoxed. She hadn’t expected the girls to be remotely interested. They had been barely aware of the last book she published, thankfully. “It’s sort of about life at my age.”
“What about life at your age?” Violet pushes her plate toward the middle of the table.
“Just about—well, about how we have to juggle lots of things and try to find happiness in different ways from when we were younger.”
“Is it about us?” says Celie. Her huge, pale eyes are locked on Lila’s face now. Her gaze is unwavering.
“Not really. I don’t mention you by name.”
“Then what are you writing about?” says Violet. “You always say me and Celie are your life.”
Lila seems to have developed a stutter. She takes a swig of her water. “It’s—it’s more just adult stuff. Just, you know, all the things I—I deal with in a day.”
“Am I in it, sweetheart?” says Gene, cheerfully. Evidently he cannotconceive of the possibility that he would not be included in the most positive light.
“Uh—possibly? I haven’t got that far yet.”
“You need to make it clear that I’ve done a lot of stuff. I mean if this thing does well it could open doors for me. You can check my IMDb page if you need the details. Can you make sure you includeStar Squadron Zero? It’s good for everybody to be reminded of that one.”
“So what have you written about?” Celie is still staring at her. “You said you’d written four chapters.”
