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An hour later,Emily’s stomach churned as she and Geoffrey stepped out of a cab in front of the cubic glass and metal building she’d lived in with him when he first took her in off the streets. So many memories...
“You’ll have your own place on the tenth floor.”
Emily paused and glanced up at the building again. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. It was centrally located and an easy walk to the Café and the museums she liked to go to on her days off. Not to mention her friend Amber from the restaurant lived on the tenth floor. They had fun together, when Amber wasn’t entertaining customers from the Café. It was easy to forget what they were when it was just the two of them watching movies on Amber’s big-screen TV.
The doorman gave a respectful nod to Geoffrey as they approached. “Good afternoon, Mr. Lozano.” He squinted at Emily.
“You remember Emily Dawson, don’t you, Roger?”
Though Emily hadn’t left the building often when she lived there, she’d seen him plenty of times when she visited Amber.
Roger nodded. “I believe I do, sir.”
“She’ll be staying here from now on.”
“I see.” Roger smiled and gave a small bow. “A pleasure, Miss Dawson.”
“Hello.”
Geoffrey put his hand on her back and led her through the sunlit lobby to the stainless-steel elevators and pushed a button. Once they exited the elevator, Geoffrey headed down toward Amber’s apartment.
“Is it next to Amber’s?”
“No.”
Emily frowned as he stopped in front of 10F, Amber’s apartment. “We’re going to share apartments?”
“This is your new apartment.”
Emily looked at the door as he unlocked it and back at Geoffrey. “What do you mean?”
“She’s gone.” His eyes turned icy.
“What do you mean, gone?” Emily clenched her jaw to keep it from trembling as her heart beat faster.
“Go inside.” He motioned toward the open doorway.
Emily obeyed and stepped into the bright and cheery condo she’d spent so much time in. It was clean, as usual, but the few items Amber had put in place to make it hers had disappeared. “Did she leave?” Why would she leave without telling Emily? They were friends!
“No.” Geoffrey closed the door behind him. He walked into the kitchen and leaned against the white quartz island.
“What happened to Amber?” Emily’s stomach churned at Geoffrey’s cold stare.
He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he stared out the window into the bright morning sky. She would have wondered if he’d heard her, but she knew better. Geoffrey heard everything.
After several silent seconds, he let out a long breath. “She tripped.”
Emily frowned. “Tripped?”
Geoffrey turned to her and tilted his head. “She was waiting for the subway and tripped and fell right in front of an oncoming train.”
Emily’s mouth dropped open and her stomach clenched, imagining the scene and shuddering. She wanted to ask more questions, but the expression on Geoffrey’s face froze the words in her mouth.
Amber and Geoffrey had been arguing a lot lately, especially the last couple of weeks. Amber had stormed out of the restaurant this past weekend in the middle of her shift. Emily had picked up her tables. The customers were demanding, but the tips from those two tables had been more than what she’d made the entire night from her normal station.
Had it been an accident? The way Geoffrey spoke—he was so... impassive about it. She would have at least expected to see some semblance of sadness on her boss’s face.
