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Chapter 32
Nayome sighed, pushing the file in front of her so that it joined the pile in the center of her desk. Rubbing her temples, she took a sip of coffee, hoping the caffeine would help with her headache. She knew it wouldn’t, though. There had been a consistent tension in her head all week, probably from lack of sleep.
Muttering to herself unintelligibly, she stood and did a few paces across her small office. Not paying attention, she swallowed a curse as her toe slammed into the leg of one of the extra chairs.
Nayome grimaced at Dani, who chose that moment to pop her head in the open door.
“You alright there?” Dani asked, smiling as she watched Nayome hop and curse, holding her foot.
“Fine,” Nayome gritted out between her clenched teeth.
“Right, right,” Dani said, suppressing a smile as she sat down in one of the offending seats.
Nayome collapsed into the other chair. Pouting,she looked down at her shoe as if expecting to see the damage to her toes through the leather.
“We are going out tonight,” Dani declared.
“Is that a question?”
“Nope. You’ve been moping around here all week. I’m putting my foot down.”
Nayome smiled as Dani emphasized her point by stomping her tiny ankle boot, the carpeted floor muffled the noise. She wanted to say no. Every effort, every task she had over the last week had felt like fighting through quicksand, and she just wanted to rest. To sleep. But, Nayome didn’t often see such a stubborn look on Dani’s face. “Fine, if you think it will help.”
“I know it will! Yes! This is going to be fun, I promise.” Dani was bouncing up and down in her seat, curls dancing around her face as she moved.
Nayome stared at the empty doorway long after Dani bounced out of her office. She had a sick pit in her stomach. A nagging feeling that she couldn’t shake. She should be thrilled. She was safe, back home, back to normal. What was wrong with her, that she couldn’t appreciate it? The gray-blue walls of her office seemed to close in on her, making her feel claustrophobic.I need some air.
Making her way to the small window, she pulled the blinds up to gaze down at the street below. She had learned to tune out the sounds of traffic, but with her attention focused on the noise she could clearly hear the blaring horns and exhaust pipes spluttering. This was New York, and she loved it here. She was living her dream. Nayome shook her head, giving herself a moment to feel sorry for herself. She had felt so much…joy, excitement, fear, sadness in such a short period of time since her trip to Taynish, since meeting Bal…it felt almost as though she was left stretched out, with nothing left to fill the space. She felt empty.
Maybe Dani is right, a night out could be good for me.
* * *
Standing in front of the well manicured brownstone, Nayome felt a moment of hesitation. Shaking herself out of it, she moved up the front steps to rap a few times on the door. She heard some clattering and conversation before the door swung open.
“Nayome? This is a surprise…” Nick looked disheveled, which was so out of character that she immediately felt guilty.
“I should have called, sorry—I’ll go.”
“No, it’s fine. Come in, come in.” Nick raked a hand through his hair to try to smooth it, and stood back for Nayome to enter. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she could hear the sound of a baby crying in the distance. Moving into the house, she had to dodge wayward toys that were scattered around haphazardly.
“This is a bad time. I can come back.”
“It’s…well, it’s always like this now. Cindy is with Abigail trying to put her down for the night. She just isn’t sleeping.” Nick sounded like a zombie, his eyes red rimmed from a clear lack of sleep.
“Oh, I’m sorry that must be so hard.”
“Everyone told me it would be, I didn’t give them enough credit. But it’s alright—those few minutes where Abigail is calm, and I can get a little smile out of her…” Nick’s pale tired face flushed with color for a moment, his eyes shining with pride.
“You’re going to be a great dad.” Nayome winced as her statement was met with a particularly loud screech from upstairs.
Nick laughed, the sound hollow, but appreciative as he motioned her to come in.
“I wish you had come by for our open house. Abigail was all smiles that day. And our place didn’t look like a war zone.”
Nayome stumbled to a halt in the hallway, halfway to the kitchen. She had come to explain and apologize to Nick. She had assumed had been worried since she’d had been taken into custody while he and all his neighbors watched on.
“Oh, sorry—I should give you the tour. To your right is our living and dining room. It’s been temporarily overtaken as a playroom, but you know how it is. If you want to follow me, I’ll show you the kitchen. Can I get you something to drink?”
