“After the opening.”I didn’t want her third degree and hoped she’d forget. Maybe she’d be too busy.
I didn’t want to explain, but days before the official opening when my family still hadn’t RSVP’d, I gave in and sent a message to Meghan.
“Christopher and I can’t see each other. Brandon had an engagement ring. Christopher is honorable. It’s his brother.”
“That’s awful. You ok?”she said.“Why didn’t you say so before?”
“I didn’t want to talk about it. Respecting his decision. Could use some moral support. Please come to my opening Friday. Dressed up. Seven sharp? It would mean a lot.”
“We’ll be there. How’s your voice? Did you go to the doctor yet?”
“The same. I can’t talk.”
“Go to the doctor again. It’s been months. Laryngitis shouldn’t take this long to heal. Don’t be mad, but have you considered the possibility that it’s in your head? What about a therapist? Maybe you need help.”
I’d wondered how long it would take for her to ask again. She was a psychiatric nurse and worked at the hospital’s psych ward. After what had happened with our mother, I didn’t want her to think I was unwell. Maybe that was the reason for the strange look that had passed between Meghan and Dad after the engagement party. Mom had jumped at shadows and suffered from paranoia. Drinking had been her way to self-medicate.
“I have one.”Although I hadn’t talked to Dr. Maeve again, I would. I’d put it off, as I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how she could help with my stalker and I hurt too much to talk about Christopher.
I considered Meghan’s suggestion, but a regular doctor would say it was all in my head. As far as the other stress, without proof anyone had been in my house or was following me, I wouldn’t be taken seriously. I had no evidence to take to the police.
At seven, Meghan informed me she’d arrived with Andrew and Dad in tow, none of them being afflicted with my poor sense of time. They arrived fifteen minutes before I did. I changed upstairs, and it had taken longer than expected. I hadn’t wanted to walk home and walk back to the gala in fancy clothes. Before my encounter with Eric, I had no fear of walking.
The reception was packed with guests, all dressed in their finest. Christopher appeared everywhere I went—his broad shoulders, his smile, his jaw. His laugh followed wherever I went. I missed him, even the idea of him. Once, the coffee and chocolate scent I associated with him drifted by in passing. I tried not to let it upset me. After three months of constant practice, my wall had become a brick monolith. I hoped.
I didn’t need to worry about giving a speech, even if it was my exhibit. My boss, Mr. Brown, had agreed to speak on my behalf. He was the Museum curator and liked to hear himself talk. He droned on for a while to mark the occasion. I only had to smile and wave when introduced. Meghan and Andrew took care of the social talk, a two-person comedy show that entertained, and I stuck to them like glue so I wouldn’t be alone. Meghan was the funny one, and Andrew was the straight guy. He’d deliver the naughtiest lines with a poker face, making them more outrageous than ever. Several times Meghan steered me away from Christopher, running interference, and I was grateful.
The guests walked through the exhibit, which started four million years ago with the first fossils and casts of the Laetoli footprints of the australopithecines who’d first walked upright on the savannas of Africa. They continued with Lucy and later examples, the branches of early hominids, some of whom led to extinction. It included the tool-using homo habilis, which evolved into us, modern humans. I was proud of the exhibit. We’d assembled an impressive collection of fossils and tied them into the more recent migration to North America by the First Peoples across the Bering land bridge, and by small watercraft down the coast. A gallery walk of human evolution. The story of continuing migrations.
At the end of the night, when everyone had gone, I slipped upstairs to collect my laptop and work clothes. I could have asked Dad or Meghan for a ride home, but I didn’t want to explain that I no longer drove and that I used transit to get to and from Sunday dinner. There were things I hadn’t shared. I ordered an Uber. It would be out front in fifteen minutes.
I headed back downstairs when the elevator stopped on the fourth floor. Wasn’t I the only one left in the building at this hour? Christopher stumbled in. My heart pounded against my ribs. He was too big. The elevator became hot when he took up all the space. He’d been drinking and had a rosy glow, but even loose and disheveled, he was sexy as hell. In all the years I’d worked with him, including future ones that hadn’t happened yet, I’d never seen him drunk. Until now.
I shrank against the back of the elevator, giving him room. I didn’t want him, or even his clothing, to brush against me and test my control. For weeks, I’d been bracing myself for a chance meeting. I’d expected him to bring a date tonight, but I hadn’t seen one. Small mercy. At close range, it was more important than ever to maintain my wall. I hoped he couldn’t sense anything. Even drunk, he was beautiful and made my heart skip. I didn’t want him to know how much his presence affected me.
“Can I drive you home?” There was a slight slur to his words.
“You can’t drive.”I couldn’t believe he was considering it. “Call a cab. Or get an Uber.”For emphasis, I repeated,“You can’t drive.”He couldn’t be serious.
He glanced at his screen. “I’m fine. Just fine.” He swayed as the elevator stopped in the lobby to let me out. “I don’t live far.” He shook his phone in my direction. “You can’t tell me what to do.” He laughed, though I’d said nothing funny.
“When did you get so stupid?”
“You know when,” he said.
For all that he wore a charming smile, his eyes lacked their usual sparkle.
Did he mean going out with me, sleeping with me, or when he ended things? A smorgasbord of mistakes.
He held the elevator open and jangled his keys. “Coming?”
I snatched his keys and stalked out.
“Lizzie, wait up,” he said as he followed me onto the sidewalk. “It happened almost two weeks ago. I wanted to call, but after what I did, I was scared.”
“Scared?”
He didn’t look at his phone, though it buzzed. I clenched my jaw. I hated to be ignored.
