When he forced them open again, Liv was staring at him. “You okay?”
“No,” he admitted.
“I was just kidding about the bad boss.” She put a tentative hand on his arm.
“I’ve got to get out of here.”
“Pull over,” she demanded through the opening in the clear plastic partition.
Liv tossed a twenty-dollar bill up front as the car slowed. She jumped out and stalked around to his side. Yanking open his door, he tumbled out and leaned on his cane to get up onto the curb.
“What’s wrong?” she pleaded.
His knees didn’t feel strong enough to hold him up. “The homeless guy . . . from the subway.”
Liv’s mouth fell open in horror, shooting a useless stare at the already departed cab. “That was him?”
He shook his head. “Just looked like him.”
Liv’s brows knitted behind semi-circular spectacles. “What can I do?”
“Nothing. I’ll just walk home. You go.”
“No way. I’m not leaving you.”
He glared at her.
“It’s only a few blocks,” Liv reasoned. “We can either call an uber, or I’ll walk with you.”
“Let’s walk.” He found he could take steps, each steadier than the prior one.
As they made their way to his apartment, she pressed. “Is there someone I can call?”
“No, I’ll be fine.”
“What about Caleb?”
“I’m not calling my brother.”
“Anyone else?”
He shook his head with a nonchalance he didn’t feel.
“Well, I’m always here,” she said.
His loneliness was not a subject he wanted to discuss; he was glad they’d arrived.
“Thanks again,” he said, entering the foyer and passing the guard’s desk.
“There’s enough for lunch and dinner in here,” she said, holding up the white paper bag as she accompanied him to the elevator. He’d forgotten about the need for meals. Liv hadn’t.
“That’s really thoughtful,” he said, tucking the bag into the crook of his left elbow. An appetite for food seemed as foreign as cactus in a rainforest.
“Do you want me to stay with you?”
“Thanks, but there’s no need.”
She looked up at him, cocking an eyebrow as she formulated a smarmy remark. “Even though you’re a terrible boss, you know I’d do anything for you.”
