Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 125117 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125117 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
“What’s your last name?”
“Sundahl,” Ash said. “But you really don’t have to—”
Truman added it to the cover, then drew a flower next to Ash and a sun next to Sundahl.
“Okay, so we can write down all the component steps to each project and then go from there. Ready?”
Ash gulped.
“So, how about—”
“No. I’m…” Ash got jerkily to his feet. “I’m not ready. I’m really sorry, Truman. I’ve gotta go.”
Truman knew not everyone had the yen for brainstorming that he did, but really, they were just getting started.
“Oh. Okay. We can pick this up later if you want?”
“It’s not… This is… You’ve been so kind, but I just…I can’t do this right now. I’m sorry.”
He had his coat and boots back on before Truman rose.
“Ash, I—”
“Sorry, Truman. Sorry,” Ash said with an agonized look. Then he opened the door and strode quickly out into the darkening evening.
Truman shivered even after the door was closed.
Had he gone too far? Was the notebook too much? Or had Ash simply withered in the face of Truman’s organizational zeal?
He dropped onto the couch and threw an arm over his face. All his excitement about the ideas for Thorn had deflated.
Hey, he messaged Germaine and Charlotte. What percentage of budding friendships are ruined by one side’s over-enthusiastic brainstorming about business ideas, would you say? Because I might have just demonstrated that it’s a drastically underrepresented category of social destruction!
He added laughing and crying emojis, then the clown face.
Oh no, Truman! came Germaine’s quick reply. The florist?
Yup. A rose emoji, then a frowning emoji. I brainstormed him right into a panic about his business.
Psh, wimp, Charlotte wrote. Him, that is.
Maybe I was a little, um. Overenthusiastic.
One of your most endearing qualities! wrote Germaine.
If flower boy can’t see that you have great ideas, then he doesn’t deserve you. Or them.
Yeah, Germaine wrote. Real talk, are you INTO flower boy?
Stop calling him flower boy, it makes him sound like he’s a child in someone’s wedding. And NO. I am done with men.
Truman searched for a GIF of someone from a black-and-white movie dramatically collapsing onto a fainting couch, but before he found it, Charlotte replied.
You’ll never be done with men, Truman. You’re a hopeless romantic. Emphasis on hopeless.
Haha, Truman wrote.
But. Was that true? He’d never thought of himself that way before.
It’s true, T, Germaine wrote.
What? No I’m not! Circumstantial evidence!
Not what that means, Charlotte replied immediately.
Joke alert, C.
Getting facts wrong is not now and will never be funny.
Truman snorted.
Okay, you want proof? Your favorite part of TDoZ is when Aerlich begins to stray toward the darkness and Clarion pines over him for LITERALLY the rest of her life.
THAT is your proof??
Germaine sent a screen of broken hearts.
I kinda agree, boo, Germaine wrote. Like, I love Aerlich, as you well know, but by book six I really wanted Clarion to be with Illonial.
Truman’s blood boiled as it always did when this came up.
She can NOT be with Illonial. He doesn’t love animals!!! It’s like the basis of her whole interaction with the WORLD!!!
Charlotte sent a thumbs-down emoji.
People can be in love and not share all the same interests, she wrote.
That’s NOT a partnership! Clarion and Aerlich were so connected and they had the same worldview and values. They were a team and they faced the world together until—
Truman broke off because it was too painful to rehash Aerlich’s fate.
Charlotte sent a laughing emoji and wrote, SEE?
You’re a super romantic, babe, Germaine agreed.
Truman wasn’t sure how to render the sound of a grumble in a chat, so he wrote, GRUMBLE GRUMBLE GRUMBLE.
It’s not a bad thing, wrote Germaine. Of course they would think that.
It’s not bad, just unfortunate for you since you couple hopeless romanticism with a total inability to request what you need, Charlotte wrote. Then, Oops, did I say that out loud?
Go on, then.
Truman figured if he was gonna get roasted, then he may as well get specifics.
I think what C means is that you’re very giving to the people you date, but you’re not always…you don’t always…
You don’t tell anyone you date what you want from them. You just take what they give you and make up a story about how that was what you wanted in the first place. It’s bad.
Truman blinked. Then he read it again.
Germaine sent an open mouth emoji, making it abundantly clear that they and Charlotte had discussed this behind his back and Germaine hadn’t thought Charlotte would say it to his face. Well. Chat face.
It was painfully close to what Ramona had told him after the Guy fiasco, but he figured he’d just double check. Triple check.
Do I really do that?
Yes.
Well, you’re just so generous that you can find ways to make almost anything be nice or sweet, even if it’s…
Not, Charlotte concluded.
Quadruple checked.
Truman cringed. He thought about the time that Guy had said “I have something for you,” and Truman had gotten so excited, thinking that Guy had gotten him a present, which would mean Guy had been thinking about him. Then Guy had pulled Truman’s pen out of his own pocket and said, “You left this in my car.”