Page 123 of The Secretary Volume II
I glance over at Ellis, who is staring at the ceiling.Well, mostly, anyway.
The rest will come in time.
I cross to the window, pull the curtain back a few inches, and scan the street below.Nothing suspicious.Just people walking.Living.Dying.
Still, I don’t go out alone.Not here.Not anymore.
My phone buzzes once.
No name.
No preview.
Just a notification.
I stare at it for a second before picking it up.
Do you have what it takes to be in my world?Check yes or no.
The screen pulses with it.
My palms go clammy.My stomach tightens—but not from fear.
Not really.
This isn’t a surprise.This is inevitability.
She’s back to her old self.As much as she can be, anyway.
She remembers.Not everything.But enough.
I sit on the edge of the bed, glancing over at Ellis.He’s watching me without expression.
“What is it?”he asks.
My thumb hovers over the screen.I think about lying.About saying it’s nothing.About tossing the phone in the drawer and pretending everything is fine.
But he already knows.
He knew the moment the air changed.
“It’s her,” I say.
He doesn’t react, just closes his eyes again, as though he’s already bracing for impact.
I think back to third grade, when I didn’t get Tommy Childress—the only boy I ever liked who liked someone else.Gillian Martin, with her quiet answers and her perfect handwriting.She always got things I didn’t.
And now here we are.
I didn’t get Tommy Childress.
But I got something far better.
A best friend who will never, ever forget me.
Not the parts that mattered.
And now she’s coming.
