NICOLE
I'm dragging my feet across the lobby's polished marble, my body and mind both feeling heavy and used. The memory of his hands is a ghost on my skin, and the confusion from his sudden dismissal is a knot in my stomach.
I just want to disappear into the leather seat of his car and not think.
Then my phone rings, the sound tinny and broken through the shattered screen. Nemu.
My stomach drops. Instantly, I remember my weak promise from last night. 'I'll talk to you later.' I never expected 'later' to come after a day like this.
I take a shaky breath and answer, holding the fractured device to my ear. "Hello?"
"Nicole! Finally!" Nemu's voice is a burst of sunshine through the static. "Listen, my flight back to Paris got moved up. I'm leaving tomorrow! You have to come over now. You owe me all the gossip! What's going on with you and the family head? You're living in the main house! Spill everything!"
