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“What else does Angela know?”
Lila tilts her head, her brows pulled together. “What do you mean?”
I pause.
I want to make sure no one can track us, obviously – but part of me is also wondering whether she’s said anything about me. Aboutus.
Damn it. Since when do I care about rumours?
“About us…” I clarify.
She shifts, her knee pressing into my leg. “Um… she knows we went out on Friday, and that we’ve gone away together.”
“That’s it?”
“She knows about the flat. I called her Friday night after Chris left, completely freaked out. And yesterday I messaged her from the library, just told her about what was happening and that I wouldn’t be in for a few days.”
A pang hits me straight in the chest. Why didn’t she callme?
I should have gone back. Iwantedto go back.
But I’m glad she had someone.
“Why?” she asks, studying my face.
“Just wondering.”
We fall into silence. My thoughts spiral – how long can we keep this up? If he isn’t caught by the end of the week, what then? Do we just go back to work, pretend this never happened?
I wouldn’t let her go back to her flat in any case. Even if it means she has to stay with me. There’s no way I’m leaving her alone for any amount of time.
“Have you taken the whole week off?” she asks, breaking my thoughts.
Relieved for the change of topic, I exhale. “Yea, I’ve just used my annual leave. If anyone questions it, I’ll say it was mental health. No one argues with that these days. And Harrison can handle anything that comes up in my absence, so it doesn’t even matter that much.”
She gives me a faint smile, her tension easing a little. I see it in her eyes – a slight glimmer just starting to reappear.
It crosses my mind that Lila and Harrison must be a similar age, except Harrison is basically a child compared to Lila. She speaks and acts with a maturity beyond her years, and she never makes me feel like there’s any significant gap between us at all.
“What’s the next event you’re planning?” she asks.
The question throws me – in a good way.
It’s a normal question. A question between two work colleagues - not two people hiding out from a crime gang.
“We’ve got a small craft beer tasting next month, but aside from that, everyone’s focused on the gala.”
“Oh yea, I’ve seen a few e-mails about that,” she says. “Last year’s was amazing.”
“I remember,” I say, and I can’t help the smile that comes across my face as the image of her from that night fills my mind. She looked simply stunning in a shimmery, black gown that showed off every curve of her incredible figure and had a slit up one leg nearly to her hip.
“Yea?” she asks, her cheeks turning pink as a smile pushes up the corners of her eyes.
“Of course,” I say. “How could I not? You had half the room staring at you. I thought about you in that dress for several days after… and several nights,” I admit, smiling with satisfaction as a crimson blush deepens across her face and she shyly drops her head with a laugh. “You looked incredible.”
Her smile transforms her entire face, radiating a warmth that catches me off guard. My heart stutters in my chest, the rhythm faltering before racing ahead.
In that unguarded moment, something fundamental shifts within me – a quiet certainty taking root, and I know, with absolute clarity, that I would do anything just to witness that smile. To be thereasonfor that smile every damn day.