“You look well.”
“Thank you.”
“I saw your win. The qualifier. You were always exceptional.”
“I still am.”
“I didn’t mean-” he starts.
“I know what you meant.”
Somewhere behind me, music drifts from the ballroom. A laugh rises and falls.
“I’ve been meaning to reach out. The way things ended-”
“Don’t bother.”
He stops.
“I don’t need an explanation. I don’t need anything from you. I haven’t needed anything from you for a long time.”
He looks at me properly. He’s seeing the woman in front of him rather than the memory he’s been carrying.
“You’ve changed.”
“No. I stopped pretending.”
I don’t wait for a response.
I walk past him.
My heels click on the marble floor. My dress swishes. My heart is beating too fast but I feel ok. I don’t look back.
I round the corner into the ballroom.
Mateo is standing near the entrance, two glasses of wine in his hands, scanning the room. When he sees me, his whole face lights up.
“Everything okay?” he asks.
I take one of the glasses.
“Everything’s fine.”
He looks at me for a moment longer than necessary. Then he nods and puts his free hand on the small of my back. We go back to the table.
I don’t tell him what happened in the corridor.
It feels like something I handled. Something I closed.
I pick up my wine.
Three tables over, Erik’s chair is empty.
I don’t look at it again.
MATEO
The heating in the taxi is on way too high. Elida is sitting with her award on her lap and she’s already slipped her shoes off. I didn’t win my category but even being named was beyond my wildest dreams.
