Day Seven I Signed It novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: The Chat on the Big Screen

Reese lived in a glass-fronted house at the end of a cul-de-sac, and on Saturday night every window was lit.

Ivy sat beside me in my car with her cardigan buttoned wrong.

"I'm a witness," she said. "Not a date. The thirty days are still running."

"You told me twice."

"I'm telling myself."

Inside, fourteen people stood in a living room with an eighty-five-inch television on one wall.

A camera on a tripod pointed at the sofa, and in the corner of the screen a small number said 6,212 watching.

Reese saw me in the doorway and spread her arms.

"The guest of honor! And the nurse! Nobody touch the cheese, we're live."

I kept my coat on.

Margo came in behind us a minute later, in her black funeral dress, with a laptop under her arm.

She did not look at me.

"Reese," she said. "I made something for the show. A slideshow, a tribute. Can I plug in?"

Reese looked at the numbers in the corner.

"A tribute! Margo, that's perfect. Redemption arc. Give her the cable."

Margo plugged the laptop into the television.

The screen went black, and then white, and then it showed a group chat.

It was the Couples Night chat, scrolled to the top, with every message in order.

"Margo," Reese said. "What is this?"

"The first one is from two years ago," Margo said.

Her voice was thin and steady, and she read from the screen.

"This is you, Reese. Pool on the couple by the piano, will they last the year, closes Friday. Ten percent off the top for me, as always."

The woman standing by the piano turned her head.

"That's us," she said. "You ran a pool on us?"

"Here's another one," Margo said, and scrolled.

Reese lunged for the laptop.

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