"I've been thinking," he says one afternoon, while she's attempting to work on her laptop at her desk. "Should we have some kind of suicide pact?"
She looks up, pushing her glasses back up her nose and giving him her I'm-humouring-you look. "What do you mean?"
"Well, think about it. You're a lot older than me, so chances are you're going to die sooner than me, right?"
"I wouldn't bet on that right now."
"Well, obviously I wouldn't want to go on without you. So should we have some kind of pact, where we both go at the same time?"
She sighs and holds out her hand. He slides into the seat opposite hers so he can hold it.
"Obviously, if I died I would want you to go on," she says. "Marry Tabitha or someone."
"Oh, so if I died you would just jump straight into bed with Laurie or Martyn, is that it?"
"Of course not." She frowns. "I'd wait until after the funeral."
He turns away, sulking.
"Either of us could go at any moment," she says. "We just don't know."
"Right. But, balance of probabilities…"
"Why such dark thoughts, my love?" she asks gently.
"I'm just, preparing for the future. Trying to pre-grieve."
"Because that worked so well with your father?"
"Well, I never really thought he would die. He was like, superhuman. So I want to be ready." He tries to imagine himself giving a eulogy for Gerri, but his mind goes blank. It's like trying to remember the plot of a book he's never read.
"Come here." He leans in and she holds him against her shoulder. "I promise not to leave you any time soon, okay?"
"And if I go first, I'll come back and haunt you and Martyn?"
"If you must."