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My phone rang in my pocket. I pulled it out to check and see who was calling.
It was Eterni-Tea.
A small flash of panic struck me. Did I get my schedule wrong? Was I actually supposed to work tonight? I ignored the call and checked my calendar app just to be sure.
No, this was my night off, and Edwardo had no reason to call.
Except instead of leaving me alone, he called again.
And again.
Conversations carried, but I lost the threads. Eventually, Chester pulled Juno to the dance floor.
I threw back another shot.
Voicemails came in and finally texts.
“Everything okay?” Morgan asked.
“Mmhmm,” I said.
She narrowed her golden-brown eyes in that way that told me she didn’t believe me.
“You mentioned you installed your ladder without issue, right?” she asked.
“I did. And it’s perfection.”
“Did something else happen with Maxim that you haven’t told me?”
I shook my head.
“Then what’s wrong?”
“Just your everyday existential quarter-life crisis,” I said. It was a mistake to admit that out loud, though, so I quickly changed the subject. “Running Man showed up at my apartment and it’s got me all bothered.”
“Running Man as in the guy who runs by Eterni-Tea every day before the sun comes up?”
“Yep.”
“How does he know where you live?”
“I don’t know. He’s probably a stalker. He asked me to marry him.”
“What?”
“Or if I wanted a job or something. But that part could definitely be a lie, just to cover his tracks after I rejected him.”
“You’re not making any sense. Start at the beginning. When did he show up on your doorstep? What exactly did he say?”
A text dinged in my pocket.
Then another.
And another.
I ignored them and focused on Morgan.
Hmm. What exactlyhadRunning Man said? “He didn’t come to my doorstep. He caught me in the alley, installing my new ladder.”
