Page 98 of The Lies We Play

Liv: I mean, yes.

Liv: I mean, I need to finish this paragraph and pretend that it did not do anything to my nervous system.

Halston: Finish the paragraph.

Liv: You’re impossible.

Halston: And useful.

Liv: Unfortunately.

Halston: How was the paper?

Liv: A-

Creed: That sounds good.

Liv: It is good.

Halston: It would have been an A if you had taken my edits on the second paragraph.

Liv: Absolutely not.

Creed: Congratulations, baby.

Liv: Thank you. See? Proper support.

Halston: I want my percentage.

Liv: You get nothing. The grade is mine, and the credit is mine, and you are merely my consultant.

Creed: Consultant?

Halston: Apparently.

Creed: Did the consultant get paid?

Halston: I am negotiating terms.

Liv: You are not.

Halston: Acknowledged. Send me wine next time.

Liv: Done.

Creed: Wine for an A-?

Liv: Wine for academic triumph.

Halston: And legal-adjacent consulting.

Creed: I provided moral support during the crisis.

Liv: You told me to eat dinner.

Creed: Exactly. Essential support.

Halston: Annoyingly, he has a point.