“It’s too much to take on. People think she’s this strong person, but ...”
She waited for him to finish his thought, but he didn’t.
“It is a lot to take on,” Sasha said neutrally. She couldn’t help but add, “Especially for someone who’s never done a project of that magnitude before.”
Especially for someone who has no right to take on a project of that magnitudewas what she wanted to say. The fact that the publisher was paying Angeni $200,000 for it was absurd.
“She thinks I resent her,” Erik said.
There was an obvious follow-up question to this. Sasha debated whether or not to ask it. What did she have to lose?
“Do you?” she asked.
“I didn’t think so. I was trying not to ...”
There was a “but” he wasn’t going to share. As Sasha was trying to think of how to lure out the “but,” she was interrupted by the sound of the side door opening.
Erik and Sasha both craned their necks to see Aurora coming inside. Sasha watched Aurora’s surprise as she took in the two of them sitting there on the couch.
“Oh,” she said. “Hi.”
“Hey,” Sasha said.
“Where’s Angeni?”
Aurora was not hiding her mild panic well.
“Bedroom. With Freya,” Erik said.
“What about your date?” Aurora asked.
“Ended earlier than expected,” he said.
Aurora glanced down the hallway and then back at them.
“Is everything okay?”
Erik stood from the couch. He put a hand on Aurora’s shoulder as he walked by her.
“It’s fine,” he said. An unconvincing reassurance.
He started down the hallway, shuffling his feet as if he did not want to go where he was going. Aurora watched him for a moment and then turned back to Sasha, her eyes begging Sasha for more information.
“Did he say something happened?” she asked.
“Nope,” she said. “Nothing specific.”
“Maybe I’ll go talk to them. Make sure everything’s okay.”
Sasha watched Aurora go down the hall, heard her tentative knock on the bedroom door, saw the door open. Aurora slipped inside, and Sasha imagined the mini therapy session that would ensue between the three of them. This place was so strange.
A few minutes later, Erik came out of the bedroom. Sasha tried to be busy on her phone, to appear uninterested in whatever drama was unfolding.
“Ror and Ang are talking,” he said. “Think I’m going to sit by the firepit.”
He lingered for a moment as he said this, and she wondered if he was considering inviting her.
“Enjoy,” she said.
