Page 25 of When Stars Collide
“Then it must be because I’m getting older, a fact of which I refuse to believe.”
“Heh,” Phineas snickered. “You? Older? What are you like twenty-nine now?”
“Bless you.” I studied his face, waiting for him to crack. However, he remained serious, like he was waiting for me to confirm his assessment rather than refute it. “What? Do you need me to stay late tonight or something?”
“I’m being serious. I just assumed you were in your twenties.”
“If only. I’m actually in my,” I lowered my voice to a whisper, “early thirties.”
“Early thirties?” Phineas repeated, feigning shock and awe. “You’re right, you are a woman of advanced age. I’ll have HR email our retirement packet to you.”
“That may not be an entirely bad idea, because it’s become increasingly clearer to me that I can no longer hang like I used to, which means I should probably just be put out of my misery now while I can still manage to control my own bowel movements.”
“Remind me not to ever give you any motivational speaking projects.”
I smiled, thumbing through the manuscript forLove Me Tender. “You know, I’m kind of disappointed the King himself doesn’t make an appearance in this novel. If you think about it, the title is kind of false advertising.”
“Maybe that’s something you can discuss with the author when she comes by the office.”
“What? When was this set up?”
“Just this morning. It’s one of the reasons I’m in here right now … that and I was kind of getting sick of all the pleasantries being flung at me. She emailed me to let me know she was going to be in town, and I figured you could go through some of your edits with her.”
“Like how I think her ending stinks and she should just burn the last twenty pages of her life’s work?”
“What’s wrong with the ending? Too happy for you?”
I looked up in time to catch the playful glint in his eye. “Actually, I’ll have you know I think the ending is too bittersweet. People read romance because they either want to recreate their own love story or experience the quintessential happily ever after if their story didn’t work out as planned. They want to end the book with a satisfied sigh, not a frustrated one because the story veers off course and adopts a more philosophical rhetoric.”
“I disagree with you.”
“That’s okay, we’re all wrong sometimes.”
“Oh, how I wish there was really bourbon in this mug.” Lifting it to his lips, he took another swig.
“I have that effect on people.”
“What I was going to say was, I believe the purpose of the story, aside from the romantic aspects of it, is to give the reader hope for the future of the protagonist and her guardian angel love interest. He will always be there to watch over her for the rest of her days. It’s quite romantic when you think about it.”
“It would have been even better if he had chosen to fall from heaven to become mortal and spend the rest of his natural life with her.”
“How would it be fair to ask him to give up his life and potentially paradise for an eternity while the main character doesn’t have to give up anything? The answer is, it’s not. And so, the story ended exactly the way it should have ended.”
“It was the easy ending.”
“I guess you’ll just have to take that up with the author, then.”
“Fine. I will.”
“Tactfully.”
“Aren’t I always?”
“Mena.” The stern expression on his face told me I’d better rephrase my answer.
“I’ll use so much tact that tacky will become my middle name.”
He shook his head, taking a step back into the hallway to return to his office. But just as he began to move, he paused. “Oh, I almost forgot the real reason why I came in here to begin with. I’m speaking at the publishing convention in two weeks, and I thought it would be nice to set up a booth and have someone available to answer questions from attendees, especially since embarking on our latest endeavor. And, God help me, I think that person should be you.”
