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She returned my smile, though hers was a little watered down.

“Do you want me to move your morning meetings?” she offered, and I glanced at the clock. I had a meeting in forty minutes, and as much as I wanted to avoid it, I wouldn’t.

“Warren was supposed to check in today,” I said instead, and a thought slid to the forefront of my mind. “You’re not blocked this morning, right?”

“No, I don’t have meetings,” she said, a little unsure. “I was going to walk Clara through some basics before Rae comes back.”

“No need,” I told her, dusting my hands off needlessly and getting to my feet. I may have had meetings to attend but Mia had only a few days left before she had to pack up and leave.

“You’re moving your meetings?”

“Yeah,” I murmured. “And get your stuff; we’re heading to Immigrations.”

I stood in front of the massive building with Mia by my side, her hesitance palpable.

“What time is our appointment?” I asked, taking the first step up the graying steps.

“Eleven-thirty,” she replied, tapping away on her phone. On second glance, I realized it was mine.

The doors swung open to reveal a horde of tired people, all waiting in various lines in the mercifully air conditioned offices. I slid my gaze over to Mia, who drew in a deep breath and walked toward the general enquiries desk.

“Can I help you?”

“We have an appointment scheduled for eleven-thirty,” Mia responded. I watched the clerk clack away on her keyboard, my gaze drifting to Mia.

Her shoulders stiffened, she looked for all the world like she was walking into the viper’s den.

I supposed as someone who’d never had to worry about being deported, I couldn’t begin to understand her situation. But I could do everything in my power to make sure she stayed in America.

“Down that hall, first door on the right,” the clerk said, not bothering to look up from her computer screen.

I lifted a brow at the brazen disrespect but Mia curled her fingers around my elbow and tugged me away from the desk.

“Just ignore it,” she murmured. “They’re all like that here.”

“That’s no excuse,” I hissed back, letting her guide me along anyway. “It’s not like anyone elsewantsto be here.”

“I know.”

We stepped into the empty office and took our seats on one side of the desk. Mia picked at her nails anxiously, her breaths a little too shallow and a little too quick.

“Hey,” I said, getting her attention. “It’s gonna be okay.”

She forced a smile and nodded.

“Ah, Miss Kah-tai-no?”

We both glanced back toward the door, where a very tired, irritable agent stood.

“It’s Caetano,” Mia responded gently, and the agent hummed in disinterest.

He walked in and sat down without looking at either one of us, and shuffled through the papers in Mia’s file.

“You’ve lived here for how long now?”

“Six years last month,” Mia said.

“And you’ve been working for,” he paused to study the page in front of him. “DawnStar Studios for the duration of your time here?”