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Quinci Everly
One Month Later
As Bernard drove me through thestreets of Manhattan toward DHQ, I stared out at everyone as they all walked insimilarmotion toward their respectivejobs.The day felt more like a Monday than a Friday, and I was sure it was going to amplify by the time I stepped in the doors.
Myday started off terrible because I woke up to an empty bed when Dymon was supposed to be at home. He was supposed to be back in town yesterday, but he didn’t show up. I was even more pissed because I’d cooked him a nice little welcome home meal and everything.I sat at the table waiting for him for hours, thinking every bad thought there was to think.
Did his jet crash? Did he meet another woman? Was he cheating? Was he kidnapped and people would be calling me for a ransom?Did he just leave me?
My mind was everywhere. I was terribly worried, calling him every hour, on the hour, like the annoyed girlfriend I was, but therewas no answer.
“Ms. Everly?”
Looking at Bernard,a fake smile formed on my face. I hoped that the shadeshid the dark circles around my eyes. He looked at me with a concerned look on his face.
“Is everything okay?”
No.
“Yes. Everything is okay.”
From the way his eyebrows dipped, I knew that he knew it was a lie. Over the last month thathe’d been driving me around, I’d learned quite a bit from him. One being that he was a retired detective and could read people betterthan a therapist. It made no sense in lying to him. No lie.
Even though he was Dymon’s driver, he’d become like a second father to me.He’d even had a conversation with my father earlier in theweek when I had him on speakerphone. They instantly clicked.Even promised to make it down to Citrus Grove soon. So when the silence and his stare started to become suffocating, I told the truth.
“No. Everything is not okay,” I admitted.
“Dymon?”
I nodded my head. Suddenly, I becameoverwhelmed,and water pricked my eyes, slipping down my face before I could catch myself. When I swiped at them, Mr. Bernard handed methe handkerchief from his pocket.
“He’s here, but he’s not here.He was supposed to be here yesterday, but he didn’t show up. I thought I’d wake up to him being in the bed with me, but he wasn’t. I was thinking the worst. Especially when he wasn’t answering my phone calls.This morning when he didn’t answer my phone call, I’d just accepted the fact that he’d been killed, and I would never see him again.”
He chuckled.“I’m sorry, Ms. Everly. It’s not funny. You justalwaysmanage to make a seriousconversation funny. My apologies. It won’t happen again.”
“It’s okay. You can laugh. I’ll be laughing at myself soon.It’s how I cope. Or, I’d be doing what I’m doing now; crying. After I’d accepted that he’d been killed, I happened to get on social media to see him on Ryan’s story, in a club with a woman sittingdamnnear on his lap looking like she was getting ready to kiss him in the mouth. Or had just finished kissing him in the mouth. I don’t know.”
“Story?”
“Oh. Instagram story. Pictures and stuff that disappear after twenty-four hours.”
“Ah, okay.”
“So, they were drinking or whatever. Smoking. And that’s it. So, yeah. I don’t know if he went home with the girl or not. He stillhasn’t answered my phone calls.”
“Well, Ms. Everly…” He pulled in front of DHQ and came to a stop. “I wouldn’t worry about him. He’s fine. And nothing happened.”
My eyes widened. “Did you see him?”
He nodded his head. “He was alone.”
Before I could ask him another question, makinghim violate his NDA, hegot out of the car and opened the door for me.
“Have a good day, Ms. Everly. Stop worrying. You’re too young for worry lines on your face.”
I handed him the wethandkerchief. “You’reright.See you later, Mr. B.”
As soon as the doorman openedthe door, I held my head up high and walked over the threshold. If Dymon was going to show up at work, he wasn’t going to know that I’d spent most of the night and morning crying over his ass. If he’d rather been somewhere else, then I wished he would have picked up the phone and told me. I guess the missed calls was him telling me that he didn’t want to come home. Whatever.
