“Don’t worry,” I tell her quickly, shoving it into my purse. “I’m not planning on using it. I just didn’t want to leave it out in the open.”
The eyebrow slides back down. “Name?” she says again and it’s not exactly warm and fluffy, but at least it’s not edged with ice.
And damn, I should have been using this time to come up with a name.
Except, it’s not going to be on that clipboard.
Which means she won’t let me inside. I can see that on her face, see it in the firm lines of her expression, her brow slowly arching up again.
I open my mouth…
Just as I’m shoved from behind, hard enough that I topple into the woman, her clipboard smacking me in the face as I fall onto my hands and knees.
Pain flames through my kneecaps, my palms.
“Oh, my God!” I hear. “What is wrong with you?”
“Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”
I glance over my shoulder, spot a delivery guy carrying a huge box in front of him.
“Why are you coming in this way?” she snaps. “We take deliveries at the other door.”
“What do you mean? I always bring them here?—”
A scoff. “Certainly not.”
The clipboard is right there and I don’t waste any more time—though I can’t deny it crosses my mind that this is a setup, a way for me to get past Clipboard Lady without blowing my cover.
Always watching.
They’realwayswatching.
I shiver, the hairs on my nape lifting, as though those eyes are on me, even now.
And they probably are.
I pick up the clipboard, scanning rapidly as she gets rid of the delivery guy, getting to my feet just as a hand lands on my arm.
I flinch, pull away.
I wish I didn’t. Wish that instinct wasn’t there, that I could bury it because it reveals too much.
But…
I don’t, or I’m not able to, or?—
“Sorry,” Clipboard Lady says and there’s definitely no ice in her tone now. It’s gentle, almost conciliatory.
“It’s okay,” I say quickly, climbing to my feet. “Are you all right?” I ask, passing her the clipboard.
A pause. “Yeah. You?”
I nod, take a breath. “My name is Rebecca.” The only no-show on the list.
A no-show who would, hopefully, continue tonoshow.
Her eyes flick down and back up before she studies me for a long moment. But all she says is, “You’re in the coat room.”
