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“Thrilled.” Isighed.
For several seconds, I simply stood to the side and watched as she emptied the minibar. Drew made the occasional comment. “Definitely take anything I might enjoy. Yup, I love Skor bars.” He gestured. “Peanut allergy. Those Snickers are all yours.” He waved themaway.
Inside, my pain only grew. Then my phone rang in my old purse. I opened it, felt around inside, peeked at the screen and sighed. “Hi, Franco. I’m working.” Drew’s face turned red, then he rolled and stared out thewindow.
“Listen, Dominik had his appointment yesterday afternoon,” my brotherbegan.
“Okay, cool. Bully for Dominik. Why are you bothering me about this now?” Igroaned.
I heard his palm slap the table. “No, the appointment withICE.”
“Shit.” I sat hard on the bed as my heart began torace.
“He never came home. He would’ve knocked on our door. It’s not like it was out of the way. He lives across the fucking hall.” I heard the kitchen chair scrape across the floor and I knew he was about tosit.
“Did you knock on his door?” I askedweakly.
“Yes. Noanswer.”
I swallowed hard. “Did you call hiscell?”
“Dammit, Talia. That’s the first thing I did. You think I’m helpless. Why the fuck do you think I called? I did all the basic stuff. Now, I don’t know what to do.” He was silent for a moment before admitting quietly, “I’mscared.”
“Me too.” I rubbed my eyes. “Okay, let’s think positive. Call the police. Call the hospitals. Maybe he was in anaccident.”
“Alright. I can do that. I just…I couldn’t think,” hemumbled.
“I know. He’s your best friend. You’ve grown up together. I get it.” My throat tightened. There was a good chance Dominik wasn’t coming back. Franco couldn’t afford to lose anyone else. “Text me when you know something,” Icroaked.
“Be safe, Talia,” he whispered. “I loveyou.”
“I love you too,” Imurmured.
Then the call ended and I realized everyone in the room was staring at me. “Thank you.” I nodded at the maid and she scampered out of the room. As soon as the door closed, Drew was onme.
“You have a boyfriend and you let me kiss you,” hespat.
“I have a brother.” I sighed. “Time to get ready. Is there anything else?” I feltbroken.
“Yeah,” he blustered. “Well, what aboutDominik?”
“He’s an immigrant friend and neighbor. He may have been deported.” I stared at him sadly. “If there are no more questions, I’m going to go changenow.”
9
Drew
When she walkedinto the bathroom to change, it felt like she’d actually walked out of my life. Talia had been so preoccupied by her brother’s call, she hadn’t even really paid attention to me. While I dressed, I worked to process what I knew. As I added it up, I felt better… andworse.
“You’re not who I thought you were,” I commented as she wandered out of thebathroom.
“I believe you established that earlier. Can you just zip me please?” She turned around and stood patiently, her hair thrown over oneshoulder.
I didn’t want to be distracted by her smooth skin, or her gorgeous neck. I tried to ignore all of this as I slowly pulled the black metal slider up her back, closing her off from me a little more. “There,” I murmured when I wasdone.
Talia faced me and nodded. “Thank you.” Her shoulders slumped as she marched back to thebathroom.
“So, we’re back to being polite again?” I called afterher.
