Max had already run off toward the tigers, and Anja was chasing him down. I followed after them, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling in my chest.
This wouldn’t be the first time someone had tried to photograph me while I was out in public. I wasn’t famous, per se, but I was definitely recognizable due to the high profile of KZ Modeling. The agency was never far from the public eye, and that meant occasionally getting recognized or having people attempt stealthy cell phone pictures that would sometimes end up on the gossip sites. Usually Luka (drunk and disorderly) or Emzee (glammed up for an event or an art show) was the target, though, not me. The worst was when the photos showed up on the internet immediately. I was a private person, and it always felt so invasive.
Thank god I’d texted Tori earlier about my plans. I’d hate for her to see any images of Anja and Max and I today and get the wrong idea.
I checked my phone again, but there was still no response from her. I tried not to read into it too much, but given her behavior that morning, I couldn’t help wondering if she was ignoring me on purpose. If our marriage had crossed a line last night, and there was no going back.
Tori
Chapter 8
Idropped the vocab test off on my Latin professor’s desk as I headed out the classroom door, hoping my years of high school Latin would be enough to carry me through. My mind had been miles away during the test.
The truth was, school had been an absolute daze all day. I couldn’t focus, couldn’t stop thinking about Stefan. My marriage. My stepson. I had to talk to Stefan, as soon as possible. Putting it off had been a poor choice on my part. There was no way I’d be able to focus on my classes or anything else if I kept avoiding the conversation we had to have. Better to just do it now. Rip off the Band-Aid.
You have to be strong,I told myself.You can do this.
Knowing he’d be at work didn’t make me feel any better. He might not even pick up my call. Maybe I should just ask him to come home early from work so we could sit down and have dinner together, just the two of us, and figure out where things stood.
But as I dug around frantically in my bag, I realized my phone wasn’t in there. It had been in my hand on my way out the door that morning, but…no. I’d set it down on the entry table in order to put on my coat and scarf, and then I’d grabbed my keys and backpack but not my cell. Being in such a hurry to get out of the condo had made me careless.
Well, then. Tonight. I’d call him the second I got home.
Getting through my last class of the day seemed even more agonizing now that I knew I had no way to reach out to Stefan. I wondered what he was thinking. Had he already chosen between me and Anja? Was his mind made up? Had last night been his way of saying goodbye?
I knew I had to brace myself for that possibility.
The minutes seemed to inch by and I found that I was paying more attention to the clock on the wall than the sign language exercises we were supposed to be doing in groups of three. The other students were kind in correcting me, but I found it impossible to stay on track. What was wrong with me? Getting this linguistics degree had always been my dream, and here I was in one of the country’s most prestigious programs, supported by a brilliant and committed faculty, and I was fucking it up. Maybe Stefan leaving would be for the best. Maybe then I’d be forced to focus on my education and my career, like I had always intended.
But that thought didn’t make me feel any better.
After my ASL professor dismissed the class, I was planning to hail a cab and go straight to the condo. But as I was walking out of the classroom, I heard a familiar gabble of voices at the end of the hall. Looking up, I saw a bunch of students I recognized standing in a little cluster. Everyone was talking, laughing, and gesturing animatedly.
Had something happened? Was it something to do with the program? Something I needed to know about? Walking closer, I picked out my friends Audrey, Lila, and Diane all huddled around Audrey’s cell phone, absorbed by whatever was on the screen.
Impatient to know what all the fuss was about, I came up behind them and peeked over Audrey’s black leather-clad shoulder.
My stomach dropped at what I saw.
Pulled up on the screen was a celebrity gossip site calledThe Dirt, featuring a photo of Stefan in a sharp suit, Anja looking sophisticated and gorgeous in a black ensemble, and the little boy I’d seen at Konstantin’s last night, wearing a red down jacket. They were standing together next to a lion enclosure at a zoo. The boy smiled up at Stefan, and they were holding hands. His other hand was tucked into Anja’s, and the former KZ model was looking adoringly at both my husband and their son. They were all glowing and happy, the perfect family. A family that didn’t include me. The caption read, “NEWLYWED KZM SUCCESSOR STEPPING OUT ALREADY?”
So it was true. I’d lost Stefan.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from how the kid was holding Stefan’s hand. He seemed so blissfully happy to be with both of his parents. How the hell could I stand in the way of that?
The realization gutted me, and I rasped out a shocked breath. It was loud enough that my friends turned and noticed me and immediately went silent.
My cheeks were burning, my pulse pounding, and I desperately wished I’d never walked over to the group. I wished I’d never seen the picture, either, but I especially wished I hadn’t seen it surrounded by a crowd of my friends and classmates. Now everyone was staring at me, their expressions a mixture of pity and sympathy. I didn’t want either.
“I’m so sorry, Tori,” Audrey said gently, tucking her phone into her pocket.
“About what?” I said, forcing a smile onto my face. “You think thatNational Enquirertype crap has anything to do with reality? She’s an old friend of the family. She and her kid are just in town for the week.”
“Oh,” Audrey said, but I could tell she didn’t believe me by the way she was exchanging a sympathetic look with the others. “So your husband is just…taking them out sightseeing?”
“Yeah. Just keeping them entertained. They’ve been friends for like ten years,” I said, trying to make my voice sound bored and casual. “You know how those gossips sites are—always trying to make drama out of nothing.”
“That makes total sense,” Diane said, coming to my rescue as usual. “She looks like one of KZM’s models. Is that how they met?”
