Page 23 of More than Paper

“Sorry but not sorry.”

“Okay. So, what were these jobs? Don’t deviate.”

She groans and puts her face in her hands again.

“Come on. You can tell me.”

“I worked at a fast-food place.”

“Okay. What’s wrong with that?”

“It was a chicken place.”

“And?”

“They made me be the chicken who stands on the side of the road, waving down traffic.”

“No! You didn’t!” My cheeks are starting to hurt from laughing so hard.

“It was horrible.”

“I bet.” I wipe the moisture off my face.

“What was your other job?”

“I was also a librarian for the college.”

“So you always loved books? That’s how you became an editor?”

“Yes and no.”

I raise an eyebrow.

“I’ve always loved books. It wasn’t my dream to be an editor. I just kind of fell into it. It was the next best thing.”

“What did you dream of being?”

“It’s unrealistic. You’ll laugh.”

I lift her chin. “I won’t. I promise.”

She hesitates.

“Tell me.”

“I wanted to be a fiction writer. I even wrote a bunch of books.”

“You haven’t published them?”

“No. I tried when I was in college and got turned down by all the traditional publishing companies. I don’t have the connections.”

“Why don’t you self-publish?”

“Be an indie author?”

“Yeah. Those are the only books I read now.”

Her eyes widen. “You read books?”

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