Page 33 of David's Chase

“I wanted to write a book like you,” I say, closing the backpack and shifting my focus to her. “I mean not exactly like you, but you know, something real and raw. A gripping story.”

“What happened?”

I lift my drink and hide my face behind it for two seconds.

“I wanted to start from a glimmer of truth, and I didn’t have that. And then I thought I could just invent a story if I had some inspiration.”

I stop abruptly and take a sip.

“And?” she says.

Smiling, I put my drink down.

“I couldn’t find the inspiration that I needed. And even if I try to make it all up, which I should, it doesn’t hold my interest enough to write it.”

“Take a break from it and revisit it later.”

“I’ve already done that,” I say in the voice of someone who’s made peace with the fact that this will never work.

She studies me for a few moments.

“You shouldn’t give up. And even if you invent a story, you can still put something real in it. You can still use someone like David as your inspiration.”

The blush tickling my cheeks feels like a raging blaze.

“David? No. Besides, he’s already inspired a character in your book.”

“Readers don’t know that. They don’t know whether my story was fully based on true life events or not. They won’t know in your case either.”

“Yeah… I don’t know about that. I’ll think about it, though,” I say to end our conversation.

A few moments pass, her eyes still trained on my face.

“If I did that, I would need to know more about him and his past,” I say.

“I can help you with some of that. I don’t know much about his past, but I know a few things about the businesses he used to run and how he made his money.”

That’s not exactly incendiary material for a smutty book, but you wouldn’t say that based on my reaction.

“That would be great,” I say, hoping not to go down that path with her.

I wouldn’t be able to lie to her for long.

Besides, the only single thing I need to ruin my inspiration is the balance sheet of his company.

This thing won’t get me anywhere.

“We can talk more about this,” she says, her eyes flicking over my shoulder as the rest of the group comes inside.

5

DAVID

The followingFriday

New York

“That’s it?”Julie says, swiping her tablet with her finger and pushing it into her backpack.

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