No. I can’t go there. Not now. Not when everything is already hanging by a thread. I look down at the ring in my hand again. If I want this to work, if I want to find out the truth about the other woman, I need to act normal. I slide the ring back onto my finger and it settles into its familiar place, the cool metal hugging my skin, the diamond catching the light like nothing ever changed.
Like a promise I’m still pretending is whole.
By the time evening comes, I get ready quickly. Black jeans, a fitted top tucked neatly in and a light jacket. Simple. I fasten the bracelet Dominic gave me last year, the one he insisted I deserved “just because.”
My phone buzzes.
Dominic: ETA 5 min.
A few minutes later I hear his car pull into the driveway. The front door opens and closes as he steps inside.
“Babe?” he calls.
“In here,” I answer.
He appears in the doorway a moment later, shrugging off his jacket.
“You ready?”
“Yeah.”
His eyes move over me briefly.
“You look good,” he says.
“Thanks.”
He grabs his keys from the table and gestures toward the door.
“Let’s go before traffic gets worse.”
The drive is quiet at first. Streetlights blur past the windows as Dominic navigates through traffic, one hand resting on the steering wheel. “So,” I say lightly, “who’s going tonight?”
“People from the hospital,” he says.
“Anyone I know?”
“Uhmn. I’m not sure if you’ve seen them before. Not really.”
I glance over at him.
“Sophie will be there, right?”
He nods.
“Yeah.”
The answer comes quickly.
“How long have you two worked together?” I ask.
“Few months.”
I tilt my head slightly.
“That’s funny.”
“What?”