Page 96 of The Lies We Play

Halston: The paragraph needed guidance.

Liv: You sound like a man who has never fought with a topic sentence at two in the morning.

Halston: I have fought with many topic sentences. I simply win.

Liv: There it is.

Halston: You invited expertise.

Liv: I invited help, not jurisprudential arrogance.

Halston: My apologies. I’ll be humble next time.

Liv: That seems unlikely.

Halston: Statistically, yes.

Liv: I changed intent to effect.

Halston: And?

Liv: It works.

Halston: Of course it does.

Liv: I am going to pretend I arrived there independently.

Halston: I support this lie.

Liv: How generous.

Halston: I am very generous with lies that improve prose.

Liv: Dangerous thing to say to an art history student.

Halston: I live dangerously.

Liv: You color-code your case briefs.

Halston: Dangerously.

Liv: Creed needs to hear about this.

Halston: Creed doesn't need to hear that I improved your paragraph.

Liv: Creed absolutely needs to hear that you improved my paragraph.

Halston: Why?

Liv: Because he’ll say “good” in that deeply annoying calm way and then ask if I ate dinner.

Halston: Have you eaten dinner?

Liv: Don’t start.

Halston: Liv.

Liv: I had coffee.