“He knows where I work,” she says. “He’s been bothering me. I was handling it.”
“He doesn’t get to put his hands on you.”
Her breath shakes. “You don’t get to decide that for me.”
The owner clears his throat and points at the door. “Take it outside.”
We do.
On the sidewalk, the city presses in again, loud and indifferent. Lila rubs her wrist like it aches, and I hate that I didn’t get here sooner and hate that I came at all.
“Who was he?” I ask.
She hesitates. “An old friend. Or someone who thinks he is.”
“That didn’t look friendly.”
“It wasn’t,” she says, then lifts her chin. “And I didn’t need you to rescue me.”
“I know,” I say. “But I’m not sorry.”
She studies my face, searching for something, and I don’t know whether she finds it. Her phone buzzes. She checks it and stiffens again.
“I need to go,” she says.
“Lila—”
“Not now.”
She steps back, creating space with her body before I can argue, and the distance hits harder than the shove did inside. She turns and walks away without looking back, disappearing into the crowd like she’s practiced at it.
I stand there longer than necessary, hands curled at my sides, pulse still loud, and I understand something new and deeply inconvenient.
Whatever’s chasing her didn’t start with me. And whatever it is, it isn’t done yet.
15
LILA
THAT SAME MORNING, EARLIER
I’m halfway through reconciling an expense report when my phone lights up on my desk.
Unknown number.
I almost ignore it, because I’ve learned to be careful about anything that arrives without context, but the preview text shows three words that stop my breath short.
Unknown: I’m here again, doll.
My fingers go cold, because no one calls me that except one person. And when he used to, it wasn’t affectionate. It was a way of reminding me who he thought I belonged to and how small he liked me when he said it.
I don’t move for a second. I don’t look around. I don’t let my face change. I sit very still and keep my eyes on the screen like it might blink first.
I type back with my phone hidden under the desk.
Me: Where?
The reply comes fast.