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Her silly, happy, laughing, cross-eyed face, taken at a time when Sarah had known herself to be in love in the most uncomplicated of ways. He had been a man, and she had loved him, with no concept of the torment and pain their future would hold for her.
He’d taken the photo, and then they’d made love for the first time.
She closed her eyes on the unwelcome, haunting memories.
But could she so easily close her eyes on the future?
CHAPTER FOUR
It was so much brighter and bigger than she’d imagined.
So much more everything than she’d imagined. She stared at the city as it passed in a blur of peaches and gold, as the sun set behind the monoliths, shooting rays of light towards her. People moved as fast as she’d seen, and they were all so different. Some dressed to the nines and dripping with money, others in suits, jeans and shirts.
She pressed her forehead against the darkly tinted window of the limousine, marvelling at the city she had seen in so many films and televisions shows but that she’d never really been able to fathom.
Not until that moment, as the car slid through its belly, drawing her closer to … well, she didn’t really know.
Only that Syed would be there.
That they would have sex.
And Sarah also knew herself well enough to know that she was trembling with anticipation and desire. That she had committed to this because she wanted to; because she couldn’t turn up a chance to be with him.
One last time.
Maybe it would give her some closure. A much-needed final chapter to the love story that had marred her life.
No, her sister’s death had done that. Syed had been… what?
She shook her head, returning her gaze to the beautiful high-rises. As the car travelled, the type of pedestrian shifted almost imperceptibly.
The people they drove past now were almost all, without exception, visibly moneyed. Women in stunningly glamorous outfits, jeans that had been fashionably torn and tight crops, with heels that looked like they could stab someone clean through. Men in suits that looked made for them.
The car turned off the road and dipped down, into a driveway that went underground. The parking garage was lit with fluorescent lights and the cars they moved past were a who’s who of luxurious makers. Mercedez, Bentley, BMW, Bugatti, Porsche. The visible wealth was totally new to Sarah, who’d spent almost her whole life in Iron Oaks.
The limousine stopped at the base of the lift. “Madam.” The driver held the door for her and she stepped out, self-conscious now. The outfit she’d chosen earlier that day had seemed fine. It was one of her favourite dresses, in fact. A simple black with cap sleeves and figure hugging to the knees, she felt it was one of the only pieces she owned that made her look fashionably svelte rather than ungainly and skinny.
Her shoes were scuffed. And she had only fashion jewellery to accessorise with. She’d added a geometric gold choker and fluffed her hair so that it had a bed-head look.
But when she caught sight of herself in the reflection of the elevator, doubts overtook her.
She wanted to click her shoes together three times and go home.
Home to her comfortable clothes and Lexi snuggles. Home to her worn sofa and late-night TV.
This was a world in which she didn’t belong.
The feeling of being out of place and time only grew as the elevator moved upwards, all the way to the top of the Manhattan high-rise. The doors pinged open to reveal a small, anteroom. It was empty. The floor was white marble. The walls painted gold. And the lighting cast by a crystal chandelier that dangled from at least a double-height ceiling.
The driver, she hadn’t realised until that moment he’d been wearing gloves, pressed a single finger against a button and then stepped back into the lift.
Alone, Sarah’s pulse went into overdrive. She stared at the door, willing her racing heart to calm down, waiting impatiently.
She steeled herself to see Syed.
But it was a servant who opened the door.
A woman, wearing a dark dress that fell to her ankles.
