She stood abruptly, her hands making circles in the air around her. At first I thought she was signing, using the language of her brother, Elliott. But no, it was just a gesture. Some way to expel whatever it was that she felt. Pressure. So much fucking pressure coming from her.
“You shouldn’t have come. You should’ve stayed home, Brando. I wouldn’t want to cause any trouble between you—Oh!” She glared at me before turning to the fire.
The thrumming of the pulse in her neck seemed visible below her delicate skin. I could see right through her, still hear the echo of her surrender, still feel every inch of her beneath my fingers, like a map, a northern star, to the lost half of my soul.
“Is she here too?”
I took two steps from the balcony door, taking her small arms in my hands, squeezing a little. “Scarlett—”
She yanked out of my hold and took a few steps back, closer and closer to the bathroom. “No!” She waved a hand in front of her face. “I don’t want to hear it. Just. Go.Please. Go.”
“Look at me, Scarlett. I have things to fucking say.”
“No.” She shook her head. “Violet already told me everything I needed to know. I don’t need to hear it from you too. You owe me nothing. Not an explanation. Not a visit. Nothing. Do you hear me? Nothing. Go. Just go. Or I will.”
“You’ll stay with Olivier.”
She sucked in a breath. “How do you know Olivier?”
“He made your parents’ acquaintance tonight at the ballet.” And in case she didn’t believe me. “Nice scarf he had on. Real fashionable, for a woman.”
“He kissed me!” she blurted.
“Did he now. Tell me. What else did he do to you? You can feel me, Scarlett. You felt me out there tonight, waiting for you. That’s the reason you sent him home. You didn’t want him to touch you. You know what I’d do if he did.”
The words made her pause. But not one to be deflected for long, she untied her left heel with lightning speed and hurled it at me. I leaned to the side just in time. The heel went crashing into the dresser, sending most of her things to the floor. She took the other one off, holding it in her trembling hand.
“Un trou du cul!”
I had no idea what she had called me in French, but it didn’t sound complimentary. “True,” I said, not really knowing if it was or not. “Still, that doesn’t answer my question. Answer me, Scarlett.”
“I’m none ofyourconcern. Not anymore. You sent the memo. You should know it by heart. Oh, go.” She waved her hands, the ties of the other shoe whipping around. She had taken that one off too. “Pff! Go back to Jane Jones.” She hurled the other heel at me and this time I let it hit me square in the chest.
I shrugged. The suit felt too tight around my shoulders all of a sudden. “Yeah, I sent the memo. You’re free to do whatever you want. No need to get fiery because I asked. Or are you offended because I insinuated that your boyfriend wears women’s clothing?”
“It’s none of your business what I DO!”
“That’s what I just said.”
“You didnot.”
“Yeah, I did.”
She looked around wildly.
“You’re out of shoes,” I said, my tone cool, when deep down an inferno blazed. She still knew me too well. True, the words I used clearly said one thing, but she knew that I had insinuated something else.
Her chest moved up and down with the rhythm of her frantic heart; a mirror to my own cadence.
“You need to go. Go back home toher. Or wherever she is.” Her words came through clenched teeth. “We’ve established all that we needed to. I don’t belong to you. You don’t belong to me. Nothing left to say but thank you for coming andgoodbye.”
She grabbed the handle to the bathroom door so quickly that my chance of grabbing her arm had passed before I even had it. The door shut in my face and the lock clicked into place.
* * *
The room wasn’t meant for pacing, not really. Instead, I took a seat on the bed, leaning over my legs, head down, forcing myself to take deep breaths.Chest pain.
After some time had gone by, I removed my jacket and opened the balcony door. The fresh air came in like a balm, and I held it down in my lungs before releasing it. The chilliness of the night seemed to calm my temper and even out the overwhelming stuffiness suffocating the room.
