Chapter2

His gaze paused on me.

“Did I wake you? I didn’t know you were asleep.”

“It’s fine.” I pushed my hair out of my face.

“I’m here to pick up a few things for Vanessa.”

I stepped aside. “Come in.”

He entered, but I didn’t hear him move any farther. When I turned, he was still looking at me.

“You shouldn’t answer the door dressed like that. You don’t know who’s outside.”

Before I could respond, he walked past me toward Vanessa’s room.

I looked down. Long sleeves. Long pants. My pajamas covered more of me than most of my work clothes.

There was nothing to pull closed or tug down, but I found myself doing both anyway. I hated that he could still make me feel exposed without even raising his voice.

I went back to my room and closed the door.

Through the wall, I could hear him opening drawers and packing Vanessa’s things. I stayed in bed until he left.

I didn’t get back to sleep.

Vanessa came home the following afternoon carrying an enormous bouquet. Her color was better, and she was smiling before she’d even put her bag down.

“Look.” She moved her hair aside to show me her necklace. “He had it made for me. A coming-home present.”

“It’s beautiful.”

I knew Adrian had money. Once, back when I’d gone out with Sophie’s friends, I’d spilled something on my clothes and he’d handed me a spare shirt. I found out later that the designer label cost thousands.

When I tried to return it, he hadn’t even taken it from me.

“Throw it out.”

But this necklace hadn’t been something he happened to have on hand. He’d chosen it for Vanessa. She tilted the pendant toward the light, pleased with the effect, and I understood that there was a kind of attention he gave her that I’d never received.

We’d lived together long enough for me to know about her first love. She’d told me he came from a wealthy family up north. During their sophomore year of college, the difference between their lives had frightened her enough that she’d ended the relationship and gone abroad to study.

Three months ago, she’d come back. They’d gotten together again.

“He waited for me,” she’d told me that night, crying against my shoulder. “All those years, he was on his own. I was the one who gave up too easily.”

“Are you moving back north?” I’d asked.

“Not yet. I want to get settled here first. He says it doesn’t matter where I am. If I want to see him, he’ll come.”

I’d wiped her tears and told her I was happy for her. I’d meant it. I knew what it was like to want someone who didn’t want you back, and I’d been glad her waiting had ended differently.

I just hadn’t known she was the woman Adrian had been waiting for.

Vanessa fastened the necklace again. I helped her move the flowers into a vase and tried to think of something else to say.

Two days later, I came home from work to find her waiting in the kitchen.

“I want to have my boyfriend over for dinner.”

My hand stopped on the zipper of my coat. “Sure. Just let me know when. I can go out.”

“Thanks. There’s one other thing.” She gave me an apologetic smile. “Could you make dinner before you leave?”

I looked at her.

“I told him I’m a good cook. I said I’d make him something, and now he’s looking forward to it.”

I didn’t want to spend the evening cooking for Adrian so he could compliment another woman. I was about to say I couldn’t when Vanessa added, “I’ll pay you, obviously. You’ve still got your grandmother’s medical expenses, don’t you?”

Grandma had always been healthy. Then, two weeks earlier, she’d fallen. She needed surgery, and the expenses I was trying to cover were far beyond anything I could manage with my salary and savings.

I’d been doing the numbers every night. Saying no to extra money wouldn’t make them add up.

“All right,” I said.

On the evening Adrian came over, I filled the table with food, wiped down the kitchen, and left before he arrived.

I hadn’t made plans. I walked past shops, crossed streets, and kept going long after I’d run out of anything to look at. Eventually, I checked my phone.

Vanessa had posted a photograph of Adrian helping himself to dinner.

The caption read: He says I’m an amazing cook.

I scrolled past without liking it and sent her a message.

Can I come home yet?

Give it a little longer. He just left. I don’t want you running into each other.

I was much farther from the apartment than I’d intended to be. Before I could decide whether to walk back or find a ride, rain began to fall.

I turned toward a shop awning. A car pulled up at the curb beside me.

The window lowered, and Adrian looked out. One hand rested on the steering wheel.

“Get in.”