The Love of My Afterlife(97)
Merritt steeples her hands together, placing them beneath her chin. “I suppose I just selected someone you’d fancy—the same physical type as your old art teacher—and brought them for an unconscious visit. I mean, I knew he’d fancy you because you’re gorgeous and one of his ex-girlfriends looked a bit like you, but it definitely helped that he was high on pain medication. Made him all dreamy.”
I frown, remembering how Jonah looked at me like I was the most charming woman he had ever met. But he was just high on painkillers that whole time?
I shake my head. “I thought his pupils were so dilated because…Oh my god. He was high. You’re a terrible person!”
“Yes, but also clever, right?” Merritt laughs.
“Or just deeply intrusive,” Cooper retorts.
Ignoring Cooper’s comment, Merritt clasps her hands to her chest gleefully. “I originally thought I’d just get some high-quality entertainment, help you to get laid and maybe figure your shit out along the way and assuage my boredom. But then we had a twist in the plot—you went to games night with Cooper and made him laugh! I hadn’t seen him laugh in five years.” She throws him a tender glance. “And then I saw how he looked at you when you returned from the Shard that night. The way he plucked that petal out of your hair and how pink your cheeks were when he did it. You both seemed to light up. Like someone had finally pressed your on buttons. Imagine my delight when I realised I’d found myself a beautiful little love triangle.”
“A classic romance trope.” I nod, remembering the article I’d read in hospital.
“Absolute classic. So once I realised that maybe you and Cooper could be something special, but that the pair of you were too stubborn to see it, I knew I had to help before time ran out.” Merritt crosses her arms across her chest smugly.
Everything starts to connect in my mind. “Oh my god…wait…you pushed us together? Did you…”
“Make it rain the night after the gala? Yes. Steal the car keys? You bet. Cause an influx of people in The Bee and Bonnet so that you had to share a bed? Affirmative. Shared bed is my very favourite trope of all the tropes. Not that I stayed around to witness any activity, gross.” She holds her hands up. “But yes. C’était moi!”
“Her plan worked a little too well,” Cooper adds, leaning back in his wheelchair and giving me the grin that makes my insides flip-flop.
“Did it ever! I thought falling for Cooper would make you try even harder to find Jonah—to save your own life so you could be with him. But then to my dismay you totally gave up,” Merritt cries. “On the only person who could actually keep you on Earth. You just flailed and accepted your fate like a…like, well…not like the heroine in a romance novel!” Merritt flings her arms in the air and shakes her head. “And I couldn’t change the contract you’d signed. I couldn’t help you any more than a little nudge here and there without overriding free will. I was terrified you wouldn’t kiss Jonah, and that when you inevitably came back to Evermore, Cooper’s heart would break again. But to my surprise, right at the last minute, you got your fight back. You got Jonah’s address and got in the car—”
“But then the crash,” I murmur.
“I’d missed Cooper so much,” Merritt says, her eyes shining with tears. “I knew that keeping him at Evermore wasn’t the right thing but I had no way to send him back. The Franklin Bellamy Clause wouldn’t work because Cooper wasn’t actually dead. After week eleven, Eric and I were starting to get truly sick of watching Cooper moon around after you. Eventually Eric organised a huge meeting with the Higher-Ups. Made a case for allowing Cooper to return to his body because technically he was actually an unconscious visitor, just a little longer term than the norm. He made a PowerPoint presentation, wore a suit and everything. Isn’t that the most romantic thing you’ve ever heard?”
“Like something out of a romance novel.” I grin.
“So romantic—Nicholas Sparks could never.”
Merritt gazes at me for a moment, her teeth running across her bottom lip, dragging off a bunch of orange lipstick in the process. She peers behind her, out of the window on the landing. “I should probably get going…” She turns back to us, the tears in her eyes brimming over. “We got a fresh Dead in yesterday, this woman called Lindy. She is going to make the perfect guinea pig for Eternity 4U. I can’t wait to get going. Eric is now project assistant. Office romance incoming! Like a Sally Thorne but without the hate. Well, unless we’re role-playing of course.”
“Zero boundaries!” Cooper throws his hands in the air.
I pull Merritt into another hug. She rests her chin on my shoulder. “I’ll miss you,” I say.
“No, you won’t,” she replies, pushing her glasses up her nose and looking me right in the eyes. “You’ll be too busy having the time of your life with this loser.” She tilts her head towards Cooper. “And when you’re not hanging out with him, you’re going to draw and paint and be there for your friends and have breakfast with Mr. Yoon, and go on adventures and marvel at the beauty of being alive. Which is exactly as it should be.”
Cooper wheels forward to hug her, but she waves him away “Nope. Not again, Coop. We’ve done our goodbyes three times already. I can’t take it.” She immediately relents though, flinging her arms around her brother and lightly kissing his cheek.