I get in my car.
I throw on my high beams and look in every direction.
“Come on,” I whisper.
I roll down my window and call out her name. Nothing. I turn right, drive a little, then turn around and drive the other way.
I pull back up to the top of the driveway and kill the engine.
She can't survive out here for long. Not in November without a fucking coat. It's forty degrees out here and dropping.
I look both ways, keeping myself alert.
She has to come back.
Nearly an hour.
I watch my phone tick through fifty-two minutes with no movement at the end of the driveway and no sound from the tree line.
There’s fucking nothing.
Does she not know what I would do for her?
Right now, she’s acting like I’m the monster.
That’s how I know Julian was full of shit. She didn’t only see one of the videos. There’s no way she’d be this angry with me.
I picked all the wax off my body and piled it right outside the window.
My phone rings.
I look at the caller ID.
Nessa.
I exhale for three full seconds. Then I answer because she'll keep calling, and right now I don’t think Adela will show face any time soon.
"Nessa. Hi."
"Hey, what are you doing?" she asks in a chipper voice.
"I'm in the middle of something. Can I call you back?"
"Depends. Is it anything I can help with?"
I think about that for exactly one second. "I'll call you back."
"You keep pushing me off. When do I get to see you?"
"Doctor's orders." I keep my eyes on the driveway. "I'll call you soon."
"Okay. Looks like I'll have to tell you when I see you then."
I rub my mouth. "Tell me what?"
She doesn't answer immediately.
"Nessa." My voice drops. "What is it."
