No such luck, though I am able to finalize a manuscript that’s been sitting, almost finished, on my desk for a week. But the whole time I’m reading through the last chapter to make sure my notes are cohesive, I have to force myself to not compare this author’s writing to Scarlett’s. Not that it’s a fair comparison; no one can out-write her.

The ding of an incoming email snaps me back to reality. Assuming it’s the author whose work I just sent over with a quick thank-you, I hover my cursor idly over the alert, but Scarlett’s name on the notification has me scrambling to click open the full email.

From: Scarlett Frye <[email protected]>

To: Ryan Whitlock <[email protected]>

Subject: MS Notes

Ryan,

Respectfully, have you lost your mind? The bicycle is integral to the story and cannot possibly be omitted.

I will, however, begrudgingly admit that the rest of your notes are spot on, as usual.

—Scarlett

The bark of laughter I let out is so loud, Margie pokes her head in from the hallway.

“Everything okay?”

I clear my throat and brush a piece of lint off my sleeve. “Yes. I got a funny email is all.”

“Oh, okay,” she says. “You don’t laugh very often, so I had to make sure.” Then, she pops out of my field of vision.

I frown at the space her head just occupied, thinking about that for a moment. She’s right, though I’ve never noticed that I don’t laugh often when I’m here. It has me thinking about how often I laugh when I’m not here. I’m sad to admit it’s not as often as I’d like. Thankfully, before I can go too far down that rabbit hole, another incoming email dings.

From: Scarlett Frye <[email protected]>

To: Ryan Whitlock <[email protected]>

Subject: Re: MS Notes

Ryan,

Sorry about my brash question. I will be more professional in the future. But the bike stays.

—S

I don’t waste any time typing up a reply.

From: Ryan Whitlock <[email protected]>

To: Scarlett Frye <[email protected]>

Subject: Re: MS Notes

Scarlett,

No apology necessary. Your candor has brought some levity to an otherwise dreary day.

I may have lost my mind, but it would be unrelated to this. I don’t have a problem with the bike specifically. Surely you can see that you have multiple objects that are accomplishing the same thing; they all symbolize growing up, coming of age. By getting rid of one, you would strengthen the others. Do you have a suggestion for a different one that could go?

—Ryan