“Kaori?” she breathes, her voice thick with relief. “Please tell me you’re safe.”
“I’m at the Japanese Embassy.” The words finally feel real now that I’ve said them aloud.
“Thank goodness.” I hear her exhale, a long, ragged sound. “You have no idea how freaked out I was. When the alerts started popping up on my phone, it was like a horrible case of déjà vu.”
I wince, remembering how brutally the press has treated Alice in the past. Photos of her still sell for a premium. While the more reputable outlets and her family have an unspoken agreement to leave her alone on the King’s College campus, there are still some paparazzi willing to cross lines for a quick payday.
“I was in good hands the entire time,” I reassure her. “My protection officers were always nearby. And even if they hadn’t been, my coworker Leon would’ve made sure nothing happened to me.”
“That man is a national treasure,” Alice declares. “I owe him a fruit basket. Or a knighthood. Actually, he can have both.”
Despite the weight in my chest, a tiny laugh escapes me. “He’s American, so the knighthood might be a bit of a stretch, but he’ll definitely appreciate the fruit.”
She laughs with me, but her tone quickly sobers. “I’m so glad you’re safe. That’s the priority.” There’s a pause, then she leans into her best “tell-all” voice. “Now, what actually happened? The real version.”
I pull my knees up, leaning back against the tall carved headboard. “After talking to you and Art last night, I made a plan. I was going to tell Theo everything over dinner. But things went haywire. Mr. Harris cornered me, and then the only chance I had to tell Theo was when I was leaving in the elevator. I wanted him to hear everything from me.”
Alice makes an impatient noise. “And? Don’t leave a girl hanging. How’d he react?”
“As could be expected, considering the circumstances.”
“Kaori!” Alice whines. “That tells me nothing! Was he angry? Did he break your heart? Accept it? Give me something.”
“All of the above,” I say in a voice barely above a whisper. “He didn’t break up with me. But he didn’t exactly say he wants us to stay together, either.”
“Meaning?”
“The ball is in his court. It’s a waiting game. I... I think he’ll reach out to me when he’s ready to talk. If he ever is.”
“Trust me, there’s no if. It’ll be a when.” Alice is quietfor a moment. “Did I ever tell you thefullmessystory about how Art and I finally got together?”
“I only know the basics—that Art was put on leave after you two were caught.” I take a shaky breath, clutching the phone tighter. “Tell me the rest. I need to believe a forbidden romance can actually have a happy ending.”
“Okay, but don’t laugh. It sounds like a rejected Hallmark script.”
“Should I get some popcorn?”
I can practically feel Alice shooting daggers at me through the line. “No,” she deadpans.
Alice launches into a highlight reel of her most questionable life choices—giving her entire security detail the slip, accidentally starting a row in a coffee shop, and spending hours hiding under her duvet in mortified self-reflection—only to realize Art literally couldn’t contact her even if he wanted to.
“In the end,” she finishes, “it took his father physically dragging us into the same room—well, a stable, actually—to force us to sort things out.”
“Alice, I love you, but what’s the takeaway here? Should I find a stable?”
“I do have a point, I promise.”
“And it’s . . .?”
“Sometimes people just need a moment to breathe. When they go quiet, it isn’t always because they’ve stopped caring. It’s because they don’t trust themselves to say the right thing yet.” She pauses. “Does that help at all?”
I hesitate, looking at the silent, dark corners of the suite. “Not really. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Her voice softens, losing its teasing edge. “I just want you to know you’re not alone. Art and I are firmly in your corner, Kaori. No matterwhat.”
“I appreciate that,” I say quietly.
“What are you going to do now?” she asks.
