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I’m okay.
Cage
Okay.
It was the same thing each day, and it was killing me. My heart hurt so badly, and I couldn’t talk to anyone about it.
I’d broken down in front of Lola when she’d taken me to the airport, and she’d been calling every day since I’d returned home. I’d put on a brave face because she would worry if she knew how much I was hurting.
How much being away from them was chipping away at me.
How I longed to see Gracie ride Sally. I closed my eyes, and I could see her sweet smile. Smell the strawberry shampoo that always wafted around her. I could hear her laugh.
Hear the way Cage said my name in that deep, gruff voice.
Feel his arms wrapped around me.
It was an ache that wasn’t going away.
I cried in the shower as I washed my hair and glanced around the space. The shower could hold a dozen people, yet I was completely alone.
I was living in a sterile fucking museum that didn’t even feel like me anymore.
Something had shifted in me when I’d watched Gracie run toward the road. I still heard the sound of the tires screeching against the pavement every night when I closed my eyes. Maybe it was a maternal instinct, but the thought of what could have happened to her haunted me.
Knowing she was okay now was all that mattered.
All the things that I’d thought were so important just weeks ago seemed so unimportant now. My name being on the side of a building next to two men that I had very little respect for seemed shallow and stupid now.
I pulled myself together as I dried my hair and slipped into my navy suit. Today, we were meeting with A.R.C. Network. It was a big day. An important day. Our first in-person meeting. It was my time to shine in front of the partners and the new client. And I felt… nothing.
I applied my makeup and slipped into my nude heels.
I followed my old routine and grabbed coffee on Fifth Avenue. It was my favorite.
After the first sip, I was completely unimpressed.
Cove coffee was sweeter. I’d grown used to it.
I made my way up to the top floor and to the conference room to set up my PowerPoint.
“There she is,” Phillip said, as he came around the table and glanced down at my computer screen. “Are you ready?”
“Yes. I’m ready.” I forced a smile.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“I feel fine.”
“You look a little pale,” he said. “You’ve been working long hours since you returned. You’ve got nothing to prove, Presley. You’re a partner at this firm. You can go home at a normal time. You’ve put in the work. We all know it.”
What they didn’t know was that burying myself in work was the only thing that distracted me from drowning in sadness at the moment.
“I’m just catching up. I’m fine. I promise.”
He nodded and held up his hands. “You know I just worry about you. You’re more like a daughter to me than Brianna is at this point.”
“She’s still not responding?” I asked as I connected my laptop to the screen on the wall.
