Page 94 of Enzo

She studies me for a moment, then smiles. “It’s okay. People usually are surprised by me. For the wrong reasons, mostly.”

“That doesn’t make it okay.”

“No. But you’re learning.”

I shake my head, but I’m smiling. If there’s one thing I should understand about Molly by now, it is that she will always make me smile.

“What do you do when you’re sad?” Her question catches me off guard.

“I work.”

She rolls her eyes. “That W word again. And when you’re angry?”

“Work.”

“Worried?”

“Work.”

“And when you’re happy?”

I hesitate. She's drawing things out of me so easily, it’s unnerving.

“Do you work then too?” she asks softly.

“I'm not working now, am I?”

“This makes you happy?” She throws a hand between us. “Me taking up your productive day?”

I open my mouth but nothing comes out. It’s not a difficult question. I know what makes me useful, productive and successful.

But what makes me happy?

Molly sits in front of me, in an enormous fluffy robe, eating a pastry, waiting for my answer.

I don’t have one to give.

Chapter 25

MOLLY

I get dressed in my new boring clothes.

This isn’t me. It doesn’t look like me, or feel like me, but I force myself to push past that. I return to the living room and curl up with the book I'm currently reading, and every now and then I look longingly out of the big windows. It's impossible not to.

I've spent a second night under the same roof as Enzo, only last night I couldn't sleep at all.

Breakfast changed something.

He's beginning to relax, almost like last time. He comes across as way too serious. Way too watchful. Way too reserved, but when you get to know him, he starts to open up. I saw that happen in Venice, just like I'm seeing it again now.

He's laughed. Properly laughed. And though he can seem intimidating to the point of being arrogant, the real Enzo, the one I'm now discovering, is a man who is kind and thoughtful.

I'm here because he’s trying to protect me. I'm trapped because of what happened, and there's nothing I can do about it apart from enjoy this beautiful apartment.

And Enzo isn't too bad as a roommate.

I hear him step out and go into the kitchen. My heart starts racing, and I read the same paragraph three times as I listen out for him. I glance up, and hear some clattering noises.