Down the escalator, across polished tile floors, through the rhythm of rolling luggage and airport announcements, I head straight for baggage claim. Fluorescent lights flicker overhead, and somewhere, a child is crying, loud and untamed, in all the ways I wish I could.
Arms crossed, I watch the carousel spin, blinking through the blur until I see my larger suitcase, the matching Rimowa I checked back in Connecticut, pretending I wasn’t breaking in two.
It thuds onto the belt, heavy and bruised, and I grab the handle before I can second-guess all of my life choices.
Glass doors hiss open, spilling me into the New York air, thicker, louder, and more impatient than I remember.
And there he is.
Dad. Standing by the curb, black town car idling behind him as if it’s any other Saturday in the city. He’s wearing aviators and a giant grin, holding a bag of Dunkin’ Donuts like I’m still his little girl, home from college for the weekend.
I try to smile back. Honest, I do.
But my chest stings as the tears threaten again. Because this is it. The beginning of my new, so-called real life.
And I’ve never felt further from it.
September
New York City
CHAPTER 35
Knox
Didn’t think I could hate a phone this much.
It chirps, a sound I used to look forward to. Some dopamine nonsense I never questioned until now. But this time it’s just a low-battery alert, not her lighting up the screen.
I check again anyway.
Still nothing.
Fuck.
Four days. Four texts. All mine. All unanswered.
One bubble phone that suddenly feels like the setup to a bad joke with terrible timing.
I flip it closed. Then open.
Like that’ll summon a message.
Like maybe she’s not ready to reply until she knows what to say.
Or maybe I missed something. Said too much. Didn’t say enough.
Maybe it died, and she misplaced the charger. Or, hell, maybe she’s ghosted me.
The thought cuts deeper than I want to admit. Never imagined she’d be the type to ghost someone. Not Cami. Notafter the beach. Not after that last night. Not after she promised to call.
I said I wouldn’t push for real life. That it’d be her choice to moveusforward.
But I didn’t expect her to vanish.
Not from Stripe and Shadow.
Not from me.
