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"You don't know what you're saying," Blanca fires back, determined to have the last word.

"I think she knows exactly what she's saying," Elvira says, stepping in. "She's been very clear, so I think we can wrap up the meeting here." She stands up, and Blanca's face goes slack with disbelief. Claudia and Laia follow her lead.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Blanca says, wounded and sharp, getting to her feet. "Because you're not getting the card back. From now on, you're on your own. Come on, Enric."

The man follows his wife and they walk out the door without a word. Only Jordi, the attorney, takes his time gathering his documents before closing his briefcase and looking at each of them.

"Ladies," he says, and gives Claudia a kind smile.

The three of them stand in silence, listening to their guests' footsteps fade down the hall, then down the stairs, and finally the sound of the front door.

"Are you okay?" Elvira asks, looking at her niece, who nods slowly. "And you, Laia?"

"It was strange and really uncomfortable," she answers, a little shaky, "but I'm fine. I'm sorry I left things out of the reports—I didn't want you to think I…"

"It's okay, Laia. I don't blame you. You were trying to protect her, and in doing that you had to protect yourself too. I understand."

"I made her do it—it was my doing," Claudia says, but her aunt raises a hand and points at her.

"I said it's okay," Elvira continues. "There are things you didn't handle right, and you dragged Laia along with you—but you corrected course, you apologized, and that's enough. We're putting this behind us. Now go. Go take a walk, get some air. And try not to dwell too much on what your mother said," she adds, looking at Claudia. "You did what you needed to do. They'll understand eventually, and if they don't—I'm here, and this time I'm not going to let you down."

Claudia exhales and nods, grateful to have her.

"Come in Monday with Laia. We'll talk about your position."

"Okay," Claudia says, stepping forward to hug her, and when they pull apart, she and Laia walk out to the parking lot and stand beside the car, looking out toward the sea.

"What do you want to do now?" Laia asks, reaching for her hand.

"I want to be somewhere quiet. But with you. Want to go back to my apartment?"

"Of course."

Chapter 29

"This is weird," Claudia says, sitting across from Laia's desk when she comes back from doing her rounds through the factory.

Laia smiles, thrilled to have her there. She doesn't even know what Elvira is going to propose yet, but she's happy with the idea of Claudia staying at the factory, of her finally discovering what she wants to do and finding the courage to stand up to her parents and take charge of her own life.

"Why? You've spent the last six months here."

"Not here, I was downstairs—not sitting alone in an office with a woman I'd love to lift onto the desk and…"

"Stop it," Laia says, cutting her off with a laugh. "We're not alone, okay?" she adds, flustered. "There are people in administration and I would never do that here during work hours."

"I know." Claudia crosses one leg over the other and Laia's mouth goes dry. "But I love watching the way you react when I suggest it—your face flushes and your eyes light up."

Laia shakes her head and manages a small smile as she turns on her screen. Despite the tension they endure Saturday afternoon at the meeting, all of it dissolves once they're back in Barcelona, where instead of shutting themselves in the apartment they decide to walk along the Ramblas; afterward they wander away from the tourist area and have dinner at a burger place. When they finally get home, they fall into bed exhausted, both physically and emotionally. They wake up the next morning wrapped in each other's arms and stay in bed talking about all sorts of things.

"I'm going to need to work somewhere else too, pick up hours at a bar or whatever fits around the factory schedule—I can't wait until I run out of money," Claudia says, staring at the ceiling.

Laia presses herself closer against her. She'd love to tell her she can help, but it's impossible—money has always been tight at home, scraping by on everything they can to cover her sister's tuition, the rent, and all the bills.

"I could talk to Nadia—I'm sure she'd give me work as a bartender—or to Pol, he told me he could hook me up at one of his family's car dealerships, but I don't think selling cars is really my thing."

"Speaking of Nadia, have you seen her at all?" Laia asks, propping herself up on her elbows to look at her.

"No, but I want to call her one of these days and see her outside of there, grab a coffee. Whatever sometimes happened between us, she always looked out for me—most of the time she'd try to get me to open up, to let out whatever I was carrying inside, but I was so closed off that I only wanted what I wanted. She's a good person and I'd love to have her as a friend." She reaches out to brush Laia's tangled hair away from her face. "Just that—I promise you don't have anything to worry about."