Her smile faltered. Just for a second.
Then it came back, sharper this time. Fake.
“Truth?” she repeated, like she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.
“Yes. Truth Renois. She works here.”
The woman—her name tag saidAmber—tilted her head, studying me like I’d just told her I was here to see the janitor.
“You sure you got the right person?” Amber asked, her tone shifting from flirtatious to condescending. “Because Truth don’t really… I mean, she’s not usually the type to have visitors. Especially not—” She looked me up and down, slow and deliberate. “—visitors like you.”
I didn’t move.
Didn’t blink.
Just stared at her until the smile on her face started to crack.
“Page her,” I said, my voice flat.
Amber’s jaw tightened. She picked up the phone on her desk, pressed a button, and spoke into the receiver with barely concealed irritation.
“Truth Renois to the front desk. Truth Renois to the front desk.”
She hung up and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms under her chest so her cleavage pushed up even higher.
“She’ll be up in a minute,” Amber said. Then, under her breath, just loud enough for me to hear, “Can’t believe he’s here for Truth big ass.”
The words hung in the air.
I let the silence stretch.
Let her think I hadn’t heard.
Then, I leaned forward, resting my hands on the edge of her desk, and looked her dead in the eyes.
“Say that again.”
Amber’s face dropped.
“I-I didn’t?—”
“You did,” I said, my voice low and precise. “You said it loud enough for me to hear. So, say it again. To my face this time.”
She opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
Nothing came out.
“That’s what I thought.”
I straightened up just as the door to the back hallway opened, and Truth walked through.
She was still in her scrubs—pale blue, wrinkled from a long shift. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, a few strands falling loose around her face. She looked tired. Beautiful. Real.
Her eyes found mine immediately.
Then they flicked to Amber.
Then back to me.
