Page 48 of Meet Me After Life

I swallow once. I can’t see anything in his eyes but fragments of shades of brown and sincerity. I sigh, nod once. Fuck, where do I even start?

‘I’m… being forced to deal with a very difficult, very hostile individual at the moment.’

‘That’s rough. Those kinds of people are so draining to be around. And I suppose you can’t just remove yourself from the situation?’

‘Unfortunately not,’ I huff.

‘Okay, so what makes this person so hostile?’

‘They’re impossible to reason with. I’ve tried compromising, I’ve tried being kind. I’ve tried everything short of doing the impossible and it’s like… it’s like⁠—’

‘They thrive off the discord,’ he finishes for me.

This guy gets it! ‘Yes!’ I lament.

‘Hmm. I know the type.’ He readjusts his cap. A nervous tick, if I’m not wrong.

‘Personal experience?’

Hot Face laughs in a self-deprecating kind of way. ‘Oh, yeah.’

‘What’d you do?’

‘I ignore them. People like that, they’ll spit on your kindness and fuel your anger. Only way to stop them is to leave them out.’

I think about what it’d look like to ignore Walker. I imagine his cheeks blushing pink and indignant. He’s such an arrogant fuck, he’d be livid that anyone could withstand his presence without acknowledging it.

Maybe? Maybe it could work?

But then what about the rest of it? What about the rest of my shitty-ass life? I can’t lay that on Hot Face. It’s too much. Too heavy. And I like how light the conversation is with him. It’s a natural place to end it.

‘I gotta get to work.’ I step off from my lean, grab a Roseraid from the fridge and open my wallet. ‘How much do I owe you?’

‘Three-fifty.’ I take out a five and put the change he hands me in the tip jar. ‘For the therapy session,’ I say, and it makes his dimples peak.

‘One of these days, I’d like to learn the name of the girl who races in here like a storm and samples all the fresh produce without paying for any of it.’

‘I like to keep a man on his toes,’ I say with a wink, sauntering towards the door. I steal an apple on my way out.

‘Don’t you want to know mine?’ he calls after me.

‘Nah, Hot Face will cut it.’

I time it perfectly; he spits out the mouthful of Gatorade he’s just sipped, and it spurts from his lips like a lime-green sprinkler.

Chapter Thirteen

The Episode

Whoever was responsible for placing the cooking with endangered meats section next to the taxidermy books was a real lateral thinker. Talk about zero waste.

I place the final book on my trolley away, and nearly have a coronary when I turn back to find a stout little man with large glasses and rat-like features staring up at me. Rat-like? No. His nose is too snub. Actually, I think he’s channeling more gopher.

‘Excuse me.’ Gopher Boy rings his hands in front of him and eyes the other patrons passing us as he leans further towards me. ‘I was wondering if you could help me,’ he says under his breath.

‘What with?’ I whisper back conspiratorially.

‘I’d like to begin by saying it’s not for me.’