So, today I’m visiting Riverley to chat with Emmy and Sofia. Bradley’s complaining about the smell of paint, Lucy’s sitting on my foot, and Kitty’s sprawled out on the rug, snoring. Just another day in the Black household.
Emmy: Chocolate eclair? Fresh from Paris this morning.
EN: Don’t mind if I do. So, where did you two meet?
Emmy: Aruba.
EN: No, seriously…
Fia: She is being serious. The CIA needed two agents who looked good in bikinis to run surveillance on a smuggler. Emmy’s last gunshot wound had healed up nicely, and I speak Dutch, so we got the job. Six weeks of sea and sun before we had to kill the asshole, and boy did we need that break.
EN: You’d had a hard time?
Fia: *Laughs hollowly* I’d spent a month doing things I don’t even want to think about with a depraved millionaire, and Emmy had just been torn in two by what happened with Harrison—
*Emmy glares at Fia*
Fia: Which we never speak about. Anyway, considering it was work, we had a good time.
EN: So, you enjoyed Aruba? Would you ever like to live there?
Fia: Once, maybe. Not now.
EN: Why not?
Fia: Apart from all the water? *Shudders* It’s kind of touristy.
EN: If you could live anywhere, where would that be?
Fia: Me?
EN: Both of you.
Fia: I’ve never really stayed in one place for long. Thirty years old, and I don’t own a house or a car. Hell, all my clothes fit in one suitcase.
EN: You don’t do your job for the money, then?
Fia: No, I do it because I’m good at it, and I want to make the world safer. A better place for kids to grow up in, because I wouldn’t wish my childhood on anybody.
Emmy: Me neither. And I don’t think it matters where we live. It’s all about the people around us. As long as I’ve got my husband and my friends, I’ll be happy. *Nudges Fia* That includes you. You’ve been out on your own for too long.
Fia: Not totally on my own. I just spent three months looking after a child and pretending to bake cookies. Fuck, looking after a kid was scary. This whole person, totally dependent on you. And having to be social was exhausting.
EN: How did you get on with Akari?
Fia: Okay, I guess. She’s a sweet lady who’s been through hell, and I admire her for getting her life back together. I’d like to stay friends with her, but she’s not so keen on me now, for obvious reasons.
EN: And how are you feeling after Boston? After all, you killed somebody there.
Fia: *Shrugs* What’s one more body on my tally? You kind of go numb to it after a while. I only worry about the technical side of death now. Method, location, possible witnesses, that kind of thing.
EN: Okay, that’s kind of cold…
*Silence from Fia*
EN: So, what’s next on the agenda?
*More silence*
Emmy: She knows what should be next. Vanilla. But she’s burying her head in the sand over that one.
Fia: Shut up. I’m hoping that if I wish hard enough, he’ll get crushed under the weight of his own ego. Asshole. *Buries head in her hands* What was I thinking? It’s like I lost my damn mind in Atlanta. I’m never, never getting involved with a man again. Em, can I borrow your iPad? I’m gonna order a chastity belt.
Emmy: Kinky. I can think of several men who would treat that as a challenge.
EN: Like who?
Emmy: Gideon and Black, for starters. Hmm… Fia, can you order two?
*Bradley wanders in*
Bradley: Fia, how long are you staying here? Do you need more clothes?
Fia: I don’t—
Emmy: Get her clothes. Something pretty. She’s not going to sit around moping anymore.
Fia: Moping’s underrated.
EN: Emmy’s right. You can’t spend your whole life hung up on a man. Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
Fia: Five years? Right now, I don’t even want to think about the next five days.
Emmy: Well, I’m gonna think about them for you. Come on, get up. We’re going shooting. Bradley’s got us nice pictures of Vanilla to use as targets, and after we’ve got our lead-based therapy, we’ll go out for dinner. Toby’s visiting his sister, so we can order fried everything. No ice cream.
Fia: Fine. I can’t deny I’d like to put a few rounds through Vanilla’s head.
Emmy: There we go—that’s thinking positive. See? Things are looking up…
Will Sofia keep her vow to stay away from men? You can find out what happened next in Lithium.
Great interview. Love the banter between Fia and Emmy.
Great interview!!
I love this, how fun. 😀 Thanks for sharing it with us.
so enjoyed the interview 🙂
Love the interview and the back & forth. Thanks! Made my day 🙂
The print was really hard to read because it is in colors, I tried coping it so I could paste in word and change the color to black, but it wouldn’t let me. These older eyes really need the black ink in order to read it clearly, Otherwise, I love all your books and own all of them with the exception of the duplicate versions. Chimera is already on order!