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The scratchy texture of the paper towel grounds me to this moment, and I think I might always remember it.
How can I experience two very contradictory things at the same time?
I feel the same and yet irrevocably different. I’m still me. Just somehow not, too. I’m more.
I spend an extra few minutes in front of the mirror, staring at the reflection of a woman I barely recognize and idly wondering what my sister would say if I told her. I can just imagine her face hardening into a stone mask of disgust.
I shove thoughts of her to the back of my mind and try to focus on what’s important right now. Leo. And getting him out of the mess he’s in because of me—no.
I can’t let myself go down that rabbit hole, not yet. What happened to Charles was an accident. And right now, all my focus needs to be on what I have to do to get to Leo.
We need a plan. And I desperately need more information to form one. Aries has been tight-lipped about everything, and maybe I wasn’t ready to hear anything right away, but I am now. I don’t understand what we’re doing at an airport and why we didn’t just follow after that guy—Charles’s uncle. But Aries asked me to trust him, and I do.
I finger-comb my hair and straighten my dress, a sad attempt at salvaging a water-stained dress. I guess I should grab something else to wear. Formal wear on an airplane isn’t the most comfortable, no matter how cushy the private jet is. My cheeks puff out with an exhale, and I ball up the paper towel before tossing it in the garbage can as I leave the restroom.
Pausing outside the exit of the restroom, I scan the terminal for Aries. A quad of older women dressed in velour tracksuits stare at him as they lounge on the couch of the nearby bar. They sip their cocktails as their greedy eyes drag up and down his form. My lip curls up as I imagine my mother fitting in with them too easily. I’m sure she’s off on some vacation with her newest boyfriend living her life as if she doesn’t have a care or a responsibility in the world.
I peel my gaze from the aging debutantes and walk toward Aries. He’s right where he said he would be. Something inside my chest settles a little when I see him standing there. I’m a few steps away when I hear it.
“Madison!”
My name explodes like a cannon in the quiet corridor, and my shoulders jerk toward my ears on instinct. My skirts swing out around my legs as I turn toward the noise, belatedly realizing that Aries didn’t seem surprised.
Matteo.
