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“Yes, just me and June.” I push my chair back. “I should go to work.”
“Can’t you take the day off? I can’t imagine you’re going to be much good over there!” He holds up one hand, shows me three fingers. “How many? Go on! Can you even count anymore, Ms. Math Teacher?”
“You’re so funny, Luis, you should have been on the stage.”
“That’s what you always say.”
Roxy gives a little bark at my feet.
“Did you walk her?” I ask. A reflex.
“Not yet. But I will. You go, babe.”
I grab my leather jacket from the hook near the door. It’s still slightly damp from last night and I vaguely consider getting another coat from the closet, but I don’t. I slip the jacket on and grab my bag from the chair where I left it last night. I go to Luis; I want him to kiss me, to feel his lips on mine once more before he finds out and it all goes wrong.
“I love you,” I say.
I already have one hand in my jacket pocket and my finger gets stuck in a hole in the lining. My fingertip brushes against something and I wriggle it out just as Luis grabs my face with both hands and kisses me on the lips. I raise my hand and glance sideways at it. It’s a chain so thin it may as well be made of a spider’s silk thread, with two thin diamond baguettes set a little off center.
Twenty-Eight
The young man who serves me in Starbucks does a double take. “Rough night?”
I give a rueful smile but don’t reply. I pay for my coffee, grab my cup and walk out.
I’m late, obviously, but I didn’t have a class this morning so I knew there was no need to rush. I did miss a couple of meetings, however.
As I walk down the corridor at work I think people stare at me, bringing their fingers over their mouths to contain the snigger. No, they’re not. I’m being paranoid. Why would they do that? A group of students from my third year class, six or seven of them, walk up towards me and I’m convinced they’re staring right at me with narrowed eyes and barely suppressed sneers. One of them bumps into my shoulder.
I don’t feel well. I walk into my office and close the door. I take the necklace out of my pocket, hold it loosely, twirling it between my fingers. I can still feel the thumping of my heart as I realized what it was earlier, when I was kissing Luis goodbye. I immediately shoved it back in my pocket and put my other hand behind his neck. Just the thought that he might have seen it sends spasms of horror through me.
I don’t remember how it got there but there’s no mistaking the fact that it fit exactly in the red welts on the inside of my left hand. As if I’d grabbed it and pulled hard, so hard that it almost broke the skin.
“I thought this might help.”
I snap my head up and in one quick motion I’ve opened my drawer, dropped the necklace into it and slammed it shut. June blinks in surprise.
“Sorry, you gave me a fright,” I say, laughing. She’s brought me the usual cookies and a cup of coffee. I glance at my own takeout cup. She follows my gaze.
“Oh, well, you look like you need two of those anyway.” She smiles, puts down her offerings on my desk and takes her usual chair. “You okay?”
I rub my hand on my forehead. “I’ve had better days.”
“I’m not surprised. You were on quite a mission last night.”
“What does that mean?”
She laughs. “You were knocking them back, that’s what it means.”
“Oh, yeah, that sounds about right.” I press my fingers against my eyes. “Thanks for covering up for me with Luis.”
She waves a hand. “That’s all right. It’s what friends are for! What did you do, anyway?”
“Nothing, why would you ask that?”
I must have said it more abruptly than I’d intended because she recoils slightly. “No reason. I just thought you might have…” She shakes her head.
“Might have what?” I snap.
