I can feel a lurking, lurid, evil presence behind me. I know instantly what -- or rather, who -- it is even before he speaks.
"What are you up to, Kiri?"
I quickly close out the tab and pretend not to have heard him. I open up my email. Checking my inbox always makes me feel like I'm doing something profitable.
"Was that Cake Boss?" My little writer peers over my shoulder, his presence now thick and choking. There's no way to ignore him now.
"Of course not! This is my email!" I click through a couple of links on my inbox. "Wow, there's a lot of useless stuff coming in today."
My little writer sighs. "Kiri, when was the last time you opened something to work on?"
"I had The Dragon Tamer opened last week for a while."
"Yeah, but you didn't do much with it."
"I even had Secret of the Hazel Tree up."
"To re-read your favorite scene! When are you going to get serious about something this summer?"
"I am serious about my writing!"
"Then why are you watching clips of Cake Boss on Youtube?"
"I'm not now," I mutter dejectedly. "Besides, the cakes look really good. You know he made a taco cake once, and a giant pizza slice..."
"It doesn't matter what the Cake Boss makes," my little writer argues, "it's wasting your time."
"Not completely. Watching these clips has inspired me to bake more."
"Yes -- to bake more cakes. Which you don't need."
I close Diomedes -- my laptop -- with a distinct snap. "Actually, gissel, I've got big profitable plans, so you needn't worry about me at all."
"Gissel?" He looks puzzled. "What's that?"
"It's the Swedish word for scourge. Or curse."
"And that's what you think of me?"
"Don't yell. I know you're pleased."
Scowling, he changes topics. "What plans?"
I just grin. "Oh, you can find out with everybody else on Friday." I love that he looks astonished and furious all at the same time. It's not often I can strip him wordless like this. "Wait for the big announcement."
God bless!
Oooh...
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