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“Yes, sir.”
Chapter Thirteen
Isabella
I never used to be a night owl, but hanging around Carter and his family has drawn it out of me. I watch him stalk to Anita’s house in the dead of the night, alone and leaning into his long, determined steps. He’s called everyone over for a meeting, and while I’m not allowed to sit in and hear the semantics of this war, I was allowed to go to Anita’s and hang out with her in the kitchen.
He didn’t specify the kitchen in his offer, of course, but I know that’s where she spends her time.
Instead, I’ve opted to stay in my new office, my fingers running over the contact paper by the window overlooking the street. The homes are lit up in the night, beautifully done, but the women in those homes still writhe with spite toward me.
I ponder briefly if I’ll ever be accepted anywhere—by anyone.
Instead of dwelling on that thought, I sink into my desk chair and look over the stale blueprints of the office building downtown. I tap my pen against the blank sheet I’ve set up beside it, but nothing comes to mind. I may not have finished school, but I did learn a lot. Besides that, I have every topic pertaining to architecture drilled into my head with news articles and inspirational photos sent to my phone so I can stay up to date with the newest fads in the industry.
Even scrolling through that back catalog, I’m lost.
There’s just too much in my head right now for me to know what I should do. And it’s not just about the building design.
Pulling out my phone, I dial Sam’s number and hope she answers.
It rings twice before the call clicks through. “Hello?”
I sink at the deep voice that answers. “Tristan?”
“Yeah, what’s up, Isabella?”
Swallowing hard, I toy with the corner of the blueprint in a fidgety manner. “I was just calling to speak with Sam, that’s all.”
There’s a brief pause before his tired exhale can be heard through the line. “I’m sorry. I must have grabbed her phone when I left the apartment instead of mine. I’m so tired I didn’t even notice it was her phone, not mine.”
I hide my relief slightly. I was worried she didn’t want to talk to me after everything that happened, and instead, was having Tristan field her calls so she didn’t have to speak to me.
“Oh, okay. That’s fine. Just… Just tell her I called, okay?”
“Yeah, of course. Is something wrong? Do you need anything?”
I hesitate, unsure if I should lie to him. Everything isn’t okay, and I really need to speak with Sam, but I can’t get ahold of her. Besides that, I’m not sure if I should ask Tristan about the Lilian thing. Is he at the meeting with Carter already? I don’t want Carter to realize I’m talking to Tristan, as it would just further the strain between him and me?
“Hey, where are you?”
“I’m going to the docks. Carter said he wanted me to check out the spot Rich is building up. Why?”
I nod and sink back into a place of ease. “Oh, I just didn’t know if you were a part of the meeting at Anita’s place, that’s all.”
“There’s a meeting at Anita’s?”
The confusion in his tone is obvious.
“Yeah, Carter just called everyone over there a few hours ago. He actually just got there himself. I didn’t know if you were there already or on your way.”
“He never mentioned it to me.”
We let an awkward moment pass between us as the line goes silent.
“Listen, Isabella. Let me be honest with you, seeing as Carter is trying to be dodgy with me, okay?”
“Yeah, what is it?”
