The Love of My Afterlife(86)

Cooper turns onto Edgware Road and puts his foot down so that the cars and the trees lining the road flick past with increasing speed. He glances across at me, eyes narrowed, and even when he’s looking at me like he doesn’t know me at all, my heart lurches with the depth of what I’ve grown to feel for him in such a short time.

Cooper. Always there, downstairs. My dickhead neighbour who turned out to be the sweetest, funniest, sexiest, most interesting man I’ve ever known. And I think even if I’d met every man on Earth and every man in the afterlife, I’d still feel that way about Cooper…Cooper. Wait…I don’t actually know his full name…

“I…I need to know something,” I blurt out as we drive around the edge of Berkeley Square.

Cooper’s eyes are back on the road, his front teeth rubbing back and forth over his bottom lip. “What? What is it?”

“What’s the R. L., stand for? What’s your first name? I need to know.”

“Are you serious right now?”

“I…just want to know your name. Your proper name.”

Cooper’s nostrils flare. “Fuck’s sake…Fine. It’s Remington Leopold. My name is Remington Leopold Cooper.”

“REMINGTON LEOPOLD?” I repeat at full blast before bursting into shocked laughter. This cool, clever, sexy, despicable man is called Remington fucking Leopold.

It must be the nerves and the terror and the general batshitness of this whole thing, but once I start laughing, I can’t stop. It takes over my whole body until I’m convulsing with it. I feel like I’m going to throw up.

I manage to stop for a moment to see Cooper looking at me, a surprised laugh blasting out of him. And then, just as we turn onto Jonah’s street, there’s the sound of a car horn, so loud it hurts my ears. I turn to Cooper who is frantically turning the steering wheel to the left, a look of horror darkening his face.

Then there’s a loud bang, and the force of being thrown forward, my body straining against the seat belt of the car in a way that steals my breath. My head cracks against something. There’s a yell in the distance. A sharp surge of pain.

And then nothing.





43





“Open your eyes…That’s it. Time to come to…Time to awaken…Aha! Hey, darling girl.”

I open my eyes to see Merritt in front of me, hands on her hips. She’s standing beside a washing machine, dressed in a navy-blue boiler suit. There are pink plastic chopsticks holding her hair up in a messy bun. Beside her stands a man so ridiculously good-looking he appears computer generated. He is tall and blond with pale green eyes and long dark eyelashes that soften the effect of a jaw so sharp it could cut glass.

Merritt turns to the man. “Well, here she is. The bane of my existence, Delphie Denise Bookham.”

The man waves, giving me a grin that looks like it ought to be photographically captured for a Vogue spread. “I’m Eric. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Eric? The man who…”

Merritt leans her head on Eric’s crisp white-shirted shoulder. “As it turns out, ours looks to be a classic tale of rivals to lovers—honestly, you couldn’t write it. Well, Lucy Score probably could.”

I shake my head, trying to process what is happening right now. A car crash? That’s how I died the second time? I was so busy worrying about manholes and murder by Mrs. Ernestine that I didn’t imagine it would be something as plebeian as a car accident. My stomach twists and clenches as I realise that I didn’t even make it to Jonah. No. Oh no. And then I cry out as I remember that Cooper was in the car beside me.

“Cooper! What about Cooper?!” I scramble up from the chair. “Is he okay? My god, was he injured?”

“He’s right there, Delph.” Merritt grins, pointing at one of the plastic chairs behind me. “Such a sleepy thing, isn’t he? Arrivals have usually woken by now. I can’t wait any longer. I’m going to wake him!”

Oh no. God, no. Cooper is here? Cooper doesn’t belong here. What have I done?

“No. Please.” I dart over to where Cooper lies in the chair, head resting on his shoulder, looking for all the world like he’s having a peaceful afternoon snooze. I…Cooper’s dead? I did this? NO. This was not meant to happen. Oh my god.

“Wake up!” I put my hands on both of his shoulders and shake frantically. “Cooper, wake up.” I turn to Merritt. “Send him back. You have to send him back right now. He doesn’t belong here! Not him. Cooper, wake up right now. Cooper, please.”

“Hey, go easy,” Merritt scolds. “Don’t scare him!”

Cooper cannot be here. He can’t be dead. I plead with Merritt. “You have to send him back. His mum will be…They already lost their…He can’t. He belongs on Earth! He has so much left to do…Books to write, joy to bring, joy to have. He’s already been through too much!”

I must be getting through because Merritt’s eyes glitter with tears at my desperation. She leans down and whispers something into Cooper’s ear.

I watch as his eyes slowly open, a brief flash of panic before they come to rest on Merritt crouching in front of him. The fear in his eyes transforms into confusion and then shock and then…delight? What?

He exhales shakily and whispers, “Oh my god.” My jaw drops as Cooper jumps up from his seat and immediately, fiercely pulls Merritt to him. He wraps his arms around her, one shaking hand pressed to the back of her head. “It’s you,” he murmurs, voice rasping. “You’re here. I…You’re here?”