Page 62 of The Time of My Afterlife

‘I know,’ I say, savouring the fact we’re still here.

‘You know when she mentioned my jacket… was that a clue?’

I reach out and touch her arm. She doesn’t flinch. ‘This is new territory for me but, Florence Hill, you do have some bloody good ideas and that has to be your best yet.’

23

FLORENCE

My jaw feels like it has become unhinged. It’s the shock of hearing Clark finally compliment me on my ideas and that I might also be right about the afterlife’s test. I blink in astonishment at him.

A boyish grin sweeps across his face. ‘Say something. That was a big thing for me.’

We both start to laugh, and soon we are in hysterics.

After composing ourselves, he raises his hand and we high-five each other. ‘We’re still here.’ He beams. ‘We can have another go at Iris and Hilda’s test.’

I nod. ‘Iris did make me smile with her boasting about the butterflies.’

‘It was spectacular, I will give her that.’ Dark hair falls over his eyes. He pushes it away with his hand, and I remember what it felt like earlier when I was scared, and he put his arm around me. That was a strange sensation that followed. One I never got with any of my other boyfriends for that matter.

He’s up on his feet and heading towards my whiteboard, which still has our plan on it.

I go and stand next to him. ‘I think we should wipe clean and make a new plan.’

I chuckle as he grabs the cloth. ‘You’re becoming a whiteboard fan.’

He laughs. ‘I might look for one myself after this.’ He writes the words ‘Small Things’ at the top. ‘Right, let’s brainstorm all the things we can do – big or small.’

‘Persuade Jane to record an entire episode and put it live.’

He nods and writes down what I said.

‘Persuade Pearl to meet Mr Beaver.’ I pause to admire his clear and swirly handwriting. It’s better than my scrawl. ‘Oh, and I need to read Mary’s book and think about how we can make it a bestseller.’

He groans. ‘I still haven’t finished it.’

‘Give it to me. I’ll have a go.’

After chewing on the lid of my marker, he taps the board. ‘Laura and Molly.’

Now it’s my turn to groan. ‘I made that situation worse. Molly didn’t want her mum to find a new man. She’s scared her mum might become obsessed again like she did with Vince.’

Clark nods after writing their names. ‘We need to improve that situation.’

I recall him going for a drink with Sam. ‘What about Sam? You took him for a drink – is there anything we can do to help him?’

He shakes his head. ‘I don’t think so. It’s not a great situation.’

We stare at the board for a few moments. Clark then bends down and squares off a new section. He writes ‘Florence and Clark’.

‘Us? Really?’ I remark. ‘What small things can we do? I know stopping acting like kids is a big one.’

He shrugs and writes ‘Upstairs at the café’.

‘But that’s my task,’ I mumble.

To my surprise he shakes his head. ‘Your dad was amazing to me, and I want to give something back. I want to help you make his dream a reality.’