My phone buzzed in the back pocket of my jeans. I fished it out, holding my breath as I unlocked the screen.
I let the breath deflate just as quickly.
No message. No call. Just a notification from Delta tracking my luggage.
I opened up my text thread with Luka and stared at his final messages:
Get out
NOW
He’d meant Richard’s office.
Not this.
Less than twenty-four hours ago.
Might as well have been a lifetime.
My fingers hovered over the keyboard, typing and deleting messages:
I made it to the gate. Thanks for the ride.
Delete.
My flight is on time. I’ll let you know if I’m ever back this way.
Delete.
Thank you. For everything.
I considered sending that one. Then I deleted it and repocketed my phone.
The overhead speakers pinged and crackled. I perked up. Then a man’s smooth, polite voice announced boarding for a flight to Amsterdam. I sank back into my molded plastic seat.
I picked at the plastic rim of my to-go coffee cup and tried to focus on the future. On what I would say to Greg—how I would make this whole situation sound less like a disaster and more like the violation it was. How I would convince him what a monster Richard was without it coming off as a desperate scramble to save myself. I was no stranger to the corporate boys’ table. Speak their language. Bullet points. Action plan. Leave feelings outside the door.
Speaking of doors…
How the hell had Richard gotten into my hotel room?
My pulse hammered in my ears.
And what would have happened if I’d gone back there last night?
His office flashed in my brain. Closed door. No witnesses. That syrupy smile, like he was doing me a favor. His hand snaking under my skirt.
And what would have happened if Luka hadn’t pulled the fire alarm…
A tap on the seat beside me. I flinched.
A mousy woman in her thirties hovered over my shoulder, backpack slung forward, face a blur of sleep deprivation and anxiety. “Em, sorry. Is this seat taken?”
I shook my head and shifted my bags, composing some semblance of a smile.
The overhead speakers crackled again.
“We’re ready to begin the boarding process for Delta flight 335 with nonstop service to Atlanta.”