A sound of suggestive giggling followed, and Kyara felt so, so dumb as her fingers tightened involuntarily around the rail.Nonstop what?Because in the past two months, she and Cyrus always had breakfast together, and so...nonstop what?
“When are you going to make it official?”
“We’re going to Vegas tomorrow, darling.”
The endearment had Kyara jerking. There was one woman she knew who loved to call everyone darling. Someone whose name was hovering at the tip of her tongue...
“And you know what everyone does in Vegas, right?”
Kyara could feel the blood draining from her face as the voices faded, followed by the sound of the rooftop door closing before the stairwell went quiet again except for the hum of the building.
Everyone went to Vegas to...what?
Play cards?
Watch a show?
Or...have Elvis Presley pronounce two people as husband and wife?
Chapter 3
KYARA WASN’T SURE WHATto feel as she got back to her desk. There was always tons of work to do when you were working for a man like Lyrius Havington. Honestly, his presence in the company was one of the greatest still-unsolved mysteries in this place. He was richer than all the members of the board, including their own CEO, who was Cyrus’s father. And in the three years she had been working here, she had heard and read countless theories, but the one being most talked about was how Lyrius seemed tooweHenry Wallace something, and that was why he was trapped here.
Or so they said.
Frankly, she had never tried coming up with her own theory, and Lara had never talked about it either. Right now, she was just thankful that working for Mr. Havington meant never running out of things to do.
So she worked and she worked and she worked until Lara said it was already five, but all Kyara could manage was a wan smile and to tell her she’d like to work overtime, just so she could enjoy her weekend more.
“That makes total sense,” Lara said approvingly. “I’ll go ahead then. Give me a call if you need anything.”
“I will.” Kyara said it because she knew it was expected, but she didn’t really mean it. She knew Lara was sincere, but growing up as she had, it was still a struggle for her to accept help.
Shayla had also told her to call, text, or drop by her apartment if she needed anything, and she knew Shayla was just as sincere, but it was just so hard to un-learn things. And anyway, it wasn’t like she didn’t have any idea of what her mentor would say.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6 was Shayla’s favorite verse. It was what she had shared with Kyara when she had had this strange whim to visit a church all of a sudden, and that was how she had ended up seated across Shayla on one of the small tables in the welcome center for first-time visitors like her. That day in church was something Kyara knew she would never forget for the rest of her life. It was the first time she had felt that she wasn’t alone and afraid like she had been her entire life, but...
I know You’re real, God.
But I also know I have to trust You, too.
And I want to, I really do, but it’s just so hard, every time I remember...
Moms were supposed to be responsible, respectable, and rational, and hers...wasn’t.
So how could she believe that God was really who everyone said He was?
She wanted to believe in Him. She wanted to trust Him. And let Him take control. But...she was just so afraid of the unknown that she had to play it safe. She had to stick to what mattered, and right now—
Growl.
What mattered was her stomach grumbling for food, and so she got to her feet, relieved to have something to do. Hunger was easy to solve. It involved carbs, not feelings. And their pantry was the best. It was spacious and sparkly clean at all times, the cabinets and fridge were always fully stocked, and the equipment and appliances were all state of the art. It was her next favorite place in the office, actually, and as she started making herself dinner, she didn’t even notice her tears startingto fall. She only realized she was crying when the tears fell directly into her soup, but she told herself that was okay because it probably needed more salt anyway, and—
“Why are you still here?”
