The Last Word

Chapter 13

Glass shattered behind us. I automatically glanced over my right shoulder; the waitress had already run to the table where a young mum was apologizing profusely whilst struggling to keep her toddler from walking on the broken glass salt shaker.

I spun back around and faced Cameron. "How did he manage that?" It seemed crazy, I've read William's unedited work, his writing was top notch. He wouldn't need to steal anything not when he was naturally gifted.

"He stole all my ideas, plotlines and character arcs. It began with trivial things, a short story I had written he would take and put his name on it. When I confronted him, he threatened to sue me and say I was the one copying his work. His parents are wealthy, his dad is a defense lawyer and his mum a vet. I kept quiet, thinking maybe it would be just a one-time thing. But it kept happening, everything I had, every piece of writing I had ever showed him, told him about, he stole it all. When I confronted him again, he went to the university board and told them I was the one stealing his work. I lost my scholarship and got expelled. No campus would take me after that, copyright is a serious offense after all."

"But surely you could prove the work was yours not his?" I said flabbergasted.

"How? I didn't write down every idea I had, we used to spend our entire Creative Writing classes discussing books we'd write. He was always typing down notes in his MacBook, I figured he was writing his own idea's down, not mine. I can't copyright what I said aloud, no-one believed me when I explained what happened. The first book he got published, The Love Trial, that was my idea. But how could anyone believe me when his father was a lawyer, it just made sense as he knew all the legal terminology."

Although The Love Trial was William's first published book, it was the third of his I read by the time my sister introduced me to his books. Witty yet with serious undertones, the book utilized the opposites attract trope when lawyer Maria Lopez is approached by Peter Anders with an odd proposition. He needs a lawyer to represent him for a traffic violation, he had been fined for holding up traffic to allow a mother duck and her ducklings to cross the road. What follows is a sharp battle of wits where Maria thinks he's a time waster and Peter thinks her time spent working in the criminal sector shriveled up her heart. Now knowing William's parents' occupations, it made sense why his first book was about law and helping animals. Questions burned through my mind, questions I longed to ask William, to hear him explain himself before I decided on who to believe.

My new apple watch buzzed. I'd been chatting with Cameron for over two hours. I stood abruptly, "sorry, I lost track of time. I better get going, I've got something to do this afternoon." It wasn't really a lie. I did have a load of washing to do.

A small flicker of annoyance passed over his face before he smoothed his expression. "No worries, it was nice chatting with you. I hope we can meet again sometime?"

"Sure, just text me." I don't know why but I was suddenly desperate to be alone. My brain was spinning, replaying what Cameron had told me about William the whole way back to my apartment. Was this the reason why he wrote under a penname? Was it because he couldn't cope with putting his name on the books he filled with the ideas he had stolen? Was he hiding under the penname, hoping that Cameron wouldn't recognize him? Well, he failed because Cameron knows his identity.

I shut my apartment door and leant my head against the smooth wood. Kitty twined herself around my ankles, looking hopeful. "It's not dinner time yet," I said. She huffed once and stalked off.

As I was undoing the straps to my black sandals, my phone rang. It was William. I hesitated for a fraction of a second before answering, if I didn't answer he'd just call me again as was his status quo.

"I don't work on weekends," I said straight away.

His drawling voice trickled down the line, "this isn't work related. I was hoping you'd have dinner with me tonight."