Page 72 of Ghostly

Perry gave him a blank look.

“The lawyer?”

“Sorry man, I’m not into that. Lawyers, politicians, anyone that wears a tie to bed—ain’t my thing.”

Gabriel slumped his shoulders. Who’d have thought he’d be annoyed because some kiddidn’tknow of his scandal?

“Hold on.”

“You remembered?”

“Nah, I Googled you.” Perry flashed him the phone. “Holy shit! You’re the dude who slept with that hot chick!”

And that was his legacy. Gabriel looked to Ida, in hopes of sharing the burden, but she’d grown very interested in a pencil on the shelf.

“Aw, man. You’re a legend.” Perry clapped his knees. “She’s smokin’. My friends and I used to play Marry—uh, never mind.”

“I’m sure the former Mrs. Sinclair would be grateful for not dragging her into your games,” Gabriel said.

“Are you still together? ‘Cuz it says here you disappeared—oh, now it makes sense!”

“If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen.” Ida cleared her throat. “I have work.”

Curious, but not wanting to interrogate her, Gabriel followed her with his eyes, until she disappeared into the hallway. “Ida’s gone. Had some things to do.”

“Right.” Perry dragged the word. “So, this connections thing?”

“First, I’d like to see your portfolio. I’ll have a friend check it. We need to know you’re the real deal. And I suppose a crash course in behavior on job interviews wouldn’t go amiss, either.” He pointedly looked at Perry’s foot, resting on the coffee table. “Plus, there’s going to be a deal attached to this.”

“Geez, man.” Perry jokingly smacked his shoulder. “Youarea lawyer, aren’t you?”

Yes, he was. And it felt good to feel like one, too. He’d been so confused about Ida lately, not knowing how to proceed with her, if he even should. His job, hiscalling, served as an anchor, reminding him of who he was under all the turbulent emotions.

“I’ll do this for you, and you promise to stay here for at least a few weeks. Get to know Ida, give it your best effort, yes?”

Perry bit his lip. “Look, before this whole gaming session, I came here because I intended to leave. I have a flatmate back in the city and bills and the wi-fi in the motel sucks so it’s really hard to do work there…”

Gabriel’s heart dropped. “But you and Ida talked today.” The familiar, frightening alarm—failure, failure, failure—grew louder and louder from the back of his mind. Anderson’s smug smile—the photos spilling on Gabriel’s palm—calmdown. You’re a lawyer, not a failure. Youarestill a lawyer.“I can take care of some bills, and if you need a better place to work, you can do it here.”

Perry gazed at the TV, deep in thought. “You care about this a lot, don’t you?”

A lot wasn’t quite the right word. And for once, Gabriel couldn’t find the right one.

“I’ll give it a try,” Perry said. “And I can game here too, right?”

Gabriel’s relief burst out in a short laugh. “Done. You won’t regret it.

Ida’s not a difficult person to like. She’s very…” Kind. Fun.Amazing.

“As long as she stops beating me at video games. She’s ruining my rep, man. Okay, we have a deal.” Perry extended his hand. “Bro clap!”

Chapter 18

Perry came around several times in the next week and, besides communicating with Ida through various means, seemed to have hit it off with Gabriel. Unfortunately for Ida’s new-found aiming abilities, Gabriel was adamant not to play any video games, but she thought it was rather sweet of him to take Perry under his wing.

As Ida drifted down to the living room one morning, Perry and Gabriel were already chatting in the kitchen, Gabriel with his back to her, Perry leaning on the counter in a slightly awkward position, as if he didn’t know how to best stretch his arm.

“There it goes,” Gabriel said as the coffee machine beeped. “Now, for the sugar, you have to be very careful with the amount…”