Page 215 of Sexting His Assistant

I stare at the name for a moment, surprised.

Then I call her back.

She answers on the second ring.

“Nina?” Meredith says.

Her voice is sharper than usual, but not cold. Never cold. Meredith always sounds like she is managing three crises and already disappointed in two of them.

“Hi,” I say.

There is a pause.

Then Meredith says, “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” I say automatically.

Meredith says, “That is a stupid answer. Try again.”

A laugh slips out of me and immediately makes my head ache.

I wince. “Ow. Don’t make me laugh.”

“Good,” Meredith says. “Your brain is still working enough to recognize pain. Now answer me properly.”

“I’m okay now,” I say. “Concussion. They kept me for observation. I’m being discharged today, I think.”

“I heard there was an incident at your apartment,” Meredith says.

I look toward the door, but it is closed. “Who told you?”

“Don’t insult me,” Meredith says. “The office is pretending not to know anything, which means something serious happened.”

“That sounds like the office.”

“It does,” Meredith says. “Mr. Kazan has cancelled two meetings, postponed one investor call, and frightened legal into silence. That’s not normal even for him.”

My chest does a strange little thing.

“He’s been here,” I say before I can stop myself.

“I assumed,” Meredith says. The way she says it makes me sit up slightly, then regret it.

“What does that mean?”

“It means he has been behaving like a man one inconvenience away from dismantling the city,” Meredith says. “I assumed you were the inconvenience.”

Despite everything, I smile faintly. “That’s almost sweet.”

“It is not sweet,” Meredith says. “It’s administratively disruptive.”

“That sounds more like him.”

Meredith is quiet for a second. When she speaks again, her voice is softer. “Nina, do you need anything?”

The question almost breaks me because it is simple and normal.

A toothbrush. Clothes. A charger. Someone to sit with me. Someone to be angry on my behalf.