Possession
“Spencer is practically under house arrest,” Hanna reports over breakfast at the Radley, taking an enormous bite of French toast.
“That sucks,” Aria says, stabbing a grape off the fruit plate a little harder than necessary. “I really wanted to ask her if she knew what our dads were arguing about last night.”
“Is Byron acting sketchy?” Hanna inquires. “Again?”
“Will you cut it out with the first names?” Emily asks.
“Whatever you want to call him, he has been acting weird,” Aria agrees.
“Add him to the list, I guess,” Hanna suggests. “While Spencer’s housebound, she’s going to keep going through the murder board and the files from Ali. In the meantime, we’re supposed to be digging up background on Mary Drake and Charlotte.”
“I can’t sleuth until later,” Aria says. “Liam called. He wants to talk. In person.”
“That sounds serious,” Emily observes, sipping an iced tea.
“Ezra was in Boston yesterday,” Aria worries. “I just hope he didn’t puff out his chest and tell Liam about us. He’s a sweet guy. I’d kind of like to break things off gently.”
“Okay,” Hanna frowns. “While you’re ripping the band-aid off, we’ll visit Alison. Then we can figure out how to get info on Charlotte and Mary Drake.”
-------
Half an hour later, Aria is sitting on a park bench in the town square. She has an old copy of To Kill a Mockingbird open on her lap, but all of her attention seems to be on her immediate surroundings. Her eyes dart around the square, checking the face of each passerby, examining the driver of every car.
She sees a silver car pull into a parking space, a taxi cruising around the corner behind it. She jumps up and takes a few steps forward until she hears Liam calling her name from the opposite direction.
“Liam!” she says, whirling around. “I wasn’t expecting you for another two hours!”
“I took an earlier train,” he says with a smile. “I wanted to surprise you.”
“Wow,” Aria says, beaming at him and then glancing quickly over her shoulder. “It worked! Color me surprised!”
“Is this - okay?” Liam asks, cautiously. “You seem a little distracted.”
“No!” Aria trills, nervously. “I mean, yes - I’m glad you’re here. You said you wanted to talk?”
“I do,” Liam agrees, sitting down on the bench, and motioning for Aria to join him. He wipes his palms nervously against his pant legs, and then takes off his small canvas backpack.
“I know things between us have been feeling a little unsettled, lately. Maybe it’s because you’re back here and we don’t spend all day sitting next to each other and sneaking out to meet up for lunch at the Thai place and playing footsie under the table in meetings. Or maybe it’s because you’re on the other side now - you’re one of our authors instead of just another underling. Maybe it’s because the promotional mock ups for your book billing it as this epic and moving novel of love and loss, and you’re writing it with your ex-boyfriend.”
“Liam -” Aria starts, feeling guilty as she looks at the familiar lines of his face. It was easier to sideline her feelings for him when he wasn’t right in front of her, all sweet and honest and wearing the sweater she bought him last Christmas.
“It’s okay,” Liam says, resting a hand on her knee. “I’m not jealous of Ezra Fitz. It’s not about him at all. This is about how I’ve spent the past few weeks worried that I was losing you. And it felt so terrible that it made me realize how important you are to me. If I stand back and let you go without a fight, I’ll turn into one of those sad lonely old men who can’t stop talking about the one who slipped away. I’ll be eating breakfast in a diner, and I won’t have any teeth, and I’ll be pointing to your author photo on the back of your latest bestseller, and trying to convince the waitress that I used to know you.” He chuckles softly and looks her earnestly in the eyes.
A loud bang interrupts the moment, and Aria and Liam both look around to see Ezra Fitz, looking grimy and unshaven, kicking a nearby trashcan. He catches sight of them and strides angrily over.
“Aria,” Ezra says with authority. “I need to talk to you in private.”
“Can it wait?” Aria asks. She motions towards Liam, who Ezra hasn’t so much as looked at. “We’re in the middle of something important here.”
“Not as important as this,” Ezra declares, taking her firmly by the arm and unapologetically steering her away.
“Ezra!” Aria hisses. “Are you drunk? You can’t just manhandle me out of a conversation!”
“It’s about the book,” Ezra responds darkly. “I was in Boston yesterday. The deal is off.”
“Off?” Aria repeats, not understanding. “What do you mean, off? We have contracts.”
“Not anymore!” Ezra says, dramatically. “Someone tipped off the publicist that our high school romance happened when I was your teacher! They said that having us listed as co-authors given our history would be a de facto endorsement of pedophilia! I had to sit there and listen while they basically accused me of being a predator and then tried eighty-six the best book I’ve ever written!”
“Calm down,” Aria tells him in a soothing voice. “They tried to eighty-six the book? Or they cancelled it and tore up our contracts?”
“We can’t be co-authors,” Ezra says. “They weren’t willing to budge on that. My original contract is still valid. They’re still willing to publish the book under my name.”
“You can’t be serious!” Aria protests. “I wrote over half of that manuscript! And how is it okay for them to publish it under your name if this whole thing is blowing up because they think you’re a creeper?”
“It’s just a rumor,” he explains, “As long as you’re a nobody, it won’t get any traction. But the moment we’re bantering about the book together on the morning shows - then the story has legs! I don’t see what the big deal is - you were willing to write the whole thing for me if it got you out of trouble! That’s how we got into this mess in the first place!”
“A nobody?” Aria says, hurt. “This is ridiculous! I’ll talk to Jillian. But you can’t just take credit for everything I did! If they won’t put both our names on the cover, we’ll shop it around! It’s a beautiful book, we can find a different publisher!”
“You can write other books,” Ezra tells her. “And you will! But I need to get this one out into the world! I need to make peace with Nicole’s voice, and with what I did by leaving! This is my shot at redemption, Aria! I had to sit there and listen to them calling me all kinds of names over this - but if the book gets done, it’ll all be worth it!”
“Ezra, we’re a team! A good team!” Aria tries to persuade him. “After the other day, I thought we were going to be an us again! I thought you wanted that, too!”
“That has nothing to do with this,” Ezra says dismissively. “We need to keep our personal and professional lives separate right now.”
“So you want to publish this book on your own and then have us go back to hiding our relationship under a rock?”
“Don’t blame me!” Ezra says, scathingly. “Look at your bright-eyed boy wonder over there! This happens days after he finds out about our history? That’s no coincidence! He’s the one who threw a wrench into the works! To spite us!”
“What are you talking about?” Aria asks. “Liam would never try to sabotage me! And he was in New York all last week interviewing ghost writers for the Jane Pratt memoir.”
“Believe whatever you want,” Ezra tells her. “It’s done. It was my idea to bring you on as a co-author, and it’s my call now to have you removed. We have to do what’s best for the manuscript.”
“For the manuscript, or for you?” Aria ask, indignant. “You don’t get to act like you’re the Great Author and I’m just a hapless second banana! I am not the banana!”
“This is what being in an adult relationship is about,” Ezra says, patronizingly. “You have to make compromises.”
“It’s not a compromise,” Aria points out. “It’s you getting what you want and deciding that my work doesn’t matter. That’s not an adult relationship! That’s not a relationship at all, it’s you being selfish!”
“I’m done arguing about this,” Ezra declares. “I just thought you should know. Especially when I saw you over there, fraternizing with the enemy.”
“He isn’t the enemy,” Aria insists. “I’ll talk to him, maybe he can help.”
“I don’t need his help,” Ezra says, in a fit of pique. “Or yours either!” He stomps away, leaving Aria staring after him.
She feels a gentle hand on her elbow. “Are you alright?” Liam asks mildly. “That looked like quite the tantrum.”
“Of course,” Aria says, absently. “It’s just book drama. He had a bad meeting yesterday. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Forget about him,” Liam suggests. “And forget the shop talk, for now. Do you remember when we heard A.S. Byatt read at Harvard? And we both bought copies of Possession and read it out loud to each other all weekend?”
Aria smiles at the memory. It was the weekend he told her he loved her for the first time. “Of course.” She wishes she could reach back and grab at the memory of those feelings, pull it through to the present like thread through the eye of a needle.
Liam pulls two copies of the book out of his bag. He hands one to Aria and opens his to a marked page as he begins reading.
“I for one would rather regret the reality than its phantasm, knowledge than hope, the deed than the hesitation, true life and not mere sickly potentialities.”
“Do you remember that? His love letter to Cristobel? Page 214?” He flips open her copy of the book.
There, nestled between the pages, Aria sees the glitter of a ring. Her mouth opens in surprise, which turns quickly to horror as Ezra storms back into view, spins Liam around by his shoulder and punches him squarely in the face.