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“Good night and…” I look at him. If I have hypnotic powers, I put them in my gaze, and try to use them to make him stay. “…thank you for everything. It… I don’t even know—”
“Let’s talk tomorrow,” he interrupts me. “Now get some rest. If you need a painkiller, there are pills and water on the nightstand.” With that, he turns around, and I am truly alone now.
I sleep through most of Christmas Day. It is not until the evening that I come to—completely disoriented.
With aching feet, I hobble into the bathroom and relieve myself. When I look in the mirror while washing my hands, I recoil from the ghost staring back at me with tangled hair and dark circles under her eyes.
Back in the living area, I discover the pile of my apparently freshly washed clothes on the sofa.
Philipp has placed a selection of his socks next to it and a note:If you’re hungry, come over to my place. I didn’t want to wake you up. Phil
Hungry?Now that I read the word, my stomach instantly growls. But before I accept the invitation, I slip into my underwear and half-successfully suppress the thought of Philipp holding them in his hands. Then there’s the pink and white striped blouse and the dark blue skirt—plus a pair of his white socks.
After smoothing my hair as gently and effectively as possible, a caricature of a manga schoolgirl peers out at me from the floor-to-ceiling wall mirror next to the front door. I sigh and wrestle down the desire to flee.
“Come in!” Philipp answers my timid knock, and when I open the door, he looks up from the sofa with a smirk. “Hey, you’re still alive!”
“Do you think so?” Embarrassed, I knead my fingers. “I’m not quite that convinced…”
“Bullshit. Come over here.” He pats the cushion beside him. “Sit. You woke up at just the right time.” With a flick of his finger, he unlocks his phone. “The pizzas will be here in just under thirty minutes. I hope you like ham, mushrooms, and pepperoni.”
“Sounds like aRustica.” I sink down on the sofa. “Perfect. That’s my favorite pizza.”
“It’s got all that on it?” Philipp laughs. “Good, then I’ll remember that for next time. Now there’s aProciutto, aFunghi, and aSalame. And aMargherita, just to be on the safe side.”
“Four pizzas?”Oh my God!“And who’s going to eat all of them?”
“If need be, we’ll have the leftovers for breakfast.”
Pizza in the early morning?
“Now don’t look so scared,” Philipp smirks. “There’s nothing better to start the day with.”
“I don’t know…” I don’t want to be rude, but that’s not what I’m imagining…
“Time will tell.” A chuckle brings a gleam to Philipp’s eyes. Then his amused expression melts away. “In the meantime, let’s discuss the situation.”
Oh my God! Do we have to do this?I squeeze out a half-baked sound of agreement.
“First of all, two things are positive,” Philipp explains. “That Kevin guy is still alive.”
I feel sick to my stomach. “Did you call his house?”
“Fucking hell! You think I’m stupid?” He holds out his phone to me. “Quick social media check.”
Uh-huh. I avoid looking at the screen.I’d prefer never to see anything from Kevin again.“So, what’s the other good news?” I distract myself and Philipp.
“Actually, it’s two…” Philipp gives me an encouraging smile and presents his cell phone again. “There are no search appeals for you. Nor is the chain of congratulations broken.”
I stare at the screen with the embarrassing engagement post. “You’re stalking me?”
“Nope.”
Is Philipp thrusting his chin out, or am I just imagining it?In any case, his eyes avoid eye contact.So is this how he looks when he’s lying?
“I’m doing research.” His finger swipes across the glass. “Like, no one’s noticed the discrepancy between your relationship status and Kevin’s yet.”
What does he mean?
