The Meeting

“I’m surprised. After all, they would have you believe I killed your best friend.”
“We were old school friends, that’s all.”
“That’s not what it says in the book.”
“The book?”
“Yes, the book that your friend James had. The book that I now guard.”
“I wouldn’t have thought they would allow you to keep it.”
“They! Like they have a choice.”
“I guess my first question would be…”
“Why did I do it? Yes, I know what you are going to ask before you ask it. Your dialog is in the book.”
“I believe that you’re going off of experience. You know the sorts of questions you, yourself, would have asked.”
“Could be, but to answer your question, I didn’t kill him. He did.”
“He?”
“Yes, the one who wrote the book.”
“Ah, I see.”
“No you don’t and neither did I the first time I met James.”
“The first time? I thought you only saw him once.”
“I did, but now I see him often. Each time I reread what happened.”
“May I see the book?”
“No, not yet. He doesn’t want you to.”
“Oh, I see. And if I just grab it from you, would that change the story?”
“No, because I know you won’t take it. You thought about it just now, but you can’t.”
“John, please work with me here. Your life is hanging by a thread.”
“Don’t you think I know that? And yes, I do know how it ends. But I can’t tell you.”
“And why would that be? If the story of our time together has already been written, why not just show me how it ends?”
“Because you never ruin a book or movie for someone by telling them the ending first. It’s just not polite.”