Chapter 17: Premium Divorce

I gave Margaret her paper back in four pieces, on the pavement, in front of the laundromat.

She watched them fall into the gutter and picked up her thermos.

"The town hall is at ten," she said. "Do come."

By ten, the whole studio was crammed into the atrium, standing on Gus's yellow tape.

The buyer stood in front of a screen with a clicker.

Margaret sat in the front row, in a folding chair, with her coat still on.

Lorne stood against the back wall with his hands in his pockets, and I stood next to him.

Neither of us said we had not slept.

"Good morning, everybody," said the buyer. "I want to start by saying how much I love Emberfall."

Two hundred people stared at him.

"Slide one," he said.

The screen said OUR PLAN FOR HANDFAST, in gold letters.

Gus was sitting at the control desk in the corner.

He gave me a small thumbs up.

I did not know what it meant, and I decided to enjoy not knowing.

"Slide two," said the buyer. "Couples stay four times as long."

"So we're going to make marriage the center of the product."

He clicked.

PREMIUM DIVORCE, said the screen. $9.99.

Somebody in the third row said, "Oh, no."

"Slide three. The Original Bride Pack."

My face came up on the screen, with my hand on a man's belt buckle, cropped for taste.

Someone coughed.

"Slide four," said the buyer. "Heartbreak is a revenue event."

A tester at the front, a quiet man from the night shift, put up his hand.

"Question," he said.

"Please."

"What happens if I can't pay the nine ninety-nine?"

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