Page 49 of Ideal Life

Sam: I do believe that YOU want to be a better person. It’s why Ideal Life exists. Everyone else, though… They just want self-improvement to make more money.

Talia: So cynical.

Sam: I am the refreshing balance to your unfettered idealism.

Talia texted back a laugh-crying face. (They were millennials, which meant that unlike Gen Z, they were not too cool for emojis.)

Talia: Anyway, Mr. Cynic, I think your event is going to have great turnout. People love the idea that they can do something small and make a difference. If they didn’t, then Chloe Quinn’s story wouldn’t have been as impactful as it was.

Even though Talia couldn’t see him, he nodded, because she did have a good point.

Sam: Thanks, Tal. I couldn’t do this without you.

Talia: Sure you could. But I’m always here for you.

He wanted to ask her how everything else was going. But he also didn’t want to know about last night, because she’d told him about signing up for a singles mixer and that she planned to use her watch to maximize what she could get out of it.

He had hated the idea. Not just because she’d be flirting with men that weren’t him and maybe taking one home. Sam had accepted that Talia didn’t see him that way and probably never would.

But it was the way she was using the watch. While Talia had always been into life hacks in college and grad school and had her “Relentless pursuit of constructive criticism” motto, Ideal Life had kicked her desire to optimize the future into a whole new gear.

And now, the watch gave her the ability to apply that same aspiration to the past.

She thought it was making her life better, but Sam wasn’t so sure.

Is it really a perfect life if you have to obsess over every detail to make it so?

Talia

The next afternoon, Talia arrived at Lighthouse Books half an hour before the event was supposed to begin, only to find the seats already filled. She was a bit surprised, not because she didn’t believe in Sam’s ability to draw a crowd to the store, but because it was one of those rare sunny and warm days at the beach, and usually that meant people wanted to be outside picnicking and building sandcastles while watching the surfers on the waves.

But there was palpable buzz about this author, and Sam had designed an event that stood out from normal book signings. First, there was the workshop with the local origami artist, and afterward, the author would arrive and give a talk and then autograph books. There would also be some light bites inspired by the author’s work—charcuterie and fruit cut and shaped like roses, a nonalcoholic cocktail called “Tiny Kindnesses,” and mini chocolate ice cream sundaes with mulberry syrup, because there had been a news article somewhere that mentioned that this was the author’s favorite flavor combination.

Talia gasped as she took in what Sam and Kenneth had done with the store. All the bookcases had been pushed to the sides—she knew what a gargantuan effort that had been—and then draped in cascading fabric that matched the yellows and blues of Chloe Quinn’s book cover.

In the center of each bookcase, a couple of shelves had been left visible, and Sam had filled them with displays of Tiny Kindnesses: How Your Small Actions Can Change Everything. Instead of the lighthouse looking like a store that sold lots of different books, he had transformed the space into a lighthouse that shone its spotlight on one book, and only one. Talia was sure the author would feel Sam’s tremendous admiration of her work as soon as she stepped foot inside the shop.

A momentary pang of something flared in Talia’s chest.

Ideal Life Queen Elizabeth: There seems to be increased activity in your basal ganglia and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, perhaps indicating jealousy.

Talia frowned at herself. What? Because of Sam and the author?

“Hey, you’re here!” Sam jogged down the staircase and hopped over the rope with the sign UPSTAIRS AREA CLOSED. WE’RE SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE that cordoned off the steps. He’d blocked off the second-story nonfiction section, since that’s where he and Kenneth had stashed all the extra books from the main floor.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” she said, giving him a hug. She held him a little tighter than usual; that irrational echo of jealousy still lingered.

Ideal Life Queen Elizabeth: You are experiencing continued spikes of activity in your basal ganglia and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Would you like some suggestions to alleviate your current emotions?

Talia ignored Queen Elizabeth. “Looks like you’ve got great turnout,” she said to Sam.

“I know. I’m thrilled. And this isn’t even everyone. Kenneth is up to his eyeballs at the register with preorders ready to be picked up.”

“Is the author here yet?” Talia asked with as much nonchalance as she could feign.

“Not yet, but she and her fiancé got in last night. They’re staying down in Half Moon Bay, and her publicist confirmed they’d be on time.”

Talia didn’t hear anything other than “her fiancé.” She let out a long exhale, relief following as the jealousy left her lungs, while at the same time thinking, Since when do I care who Sam likes? Only last week, Talia had badgered him about Kayla the caterer, and Talia hadn’t felt anything about it then.