There are less than two weeks until my appointment.
Two weeks more of worry and stress.
The ache between my legs and the one in my heart is still with me when I reach the door. It reminds me to take a glance in the mirror near the coat rack before revealing myself to the person outside—hopefully Nyx.
“Shit.” The red half-moons where Shane’s dirty nails pierced my skin are no less visible than I thought they’d be, standing proudly on both cheeks.
Hopefully, it’s not Nyx.
“Just a second!” I call out.
A few fast steps take me to the reading room—my dumping ground. There’ll be makeup in here... somewhere.
The bell rings two more times, and I stress, wondering how I can avoid this level of impatience. I can’t, so against my better judgment, I head back to the door and pull it open without fixing my face. I hide one cheek behind the heavy wood and the other behind a hand that fake scratches my cheekbone.
“Hi,” I say, recognizing the brunette from The Funhouse, and wondering what exactly she’s doing here.
“You? Well, I guess that explains why he isn’t at work. I almost hoped for a better excuse.” The brunette storms past me, entering the house without permission. “Where is he?”
Closing the door, I don’t ask her to leave as she snoops into the reading room.
“Ambrose?”
“Yes. Your boyfriend, where is he?”
The last time Valaria saw me was at the bar… with a certain barman who she pulled away from my lips.
“Why do you want to know so early in the morning?” I can’t help but ask.
“Because I asked him last night if he could cover for me to let in an order this morning, and, surprise, he missed work, again.” She spins to face me, her demeanor softening. “Have you been in some kind of accident?”
My fingers are soft against my cheek.
“I—”
“Never mind. It isn’t my business. Ambrose!”
“I don’t think he’s here. Unless he’s still asleep.”
“Yeah, well, not for long.” The woman storms straight for the stairs, kicking off her giant heels at the bottom.
“Wait, you can’t just run through my house.”
She stops halfway up the only staircase that everyone seems to use, and turns to me, in the perfect pinstripe suit she wears, staring me down in my poor choice of clothing. “Well, you wanna tell him he’s fired? That no job means he isn’t keeping up with his probation terms, right before it comes to an end, or do you not keep your tongue out of his mouth long enough to actually talk?”
“I don’t know what he’s told you, but it’s not as bad as you make it sound. We’re not blood siblings.”
A look of disgust pulls down her pretty features as her mouth drops. “You’re Dollancie? His sister? But I saw—you know what, what goes on between you is really none of my business.”
Continuing up the stairs, she reaches the top and points left, then right. “Which way is his room?”
“Right, then right again at the end.”
I follow her, playing with the hem of my shirt as she storms across the hallway.
“I’m sure he has a good reason for being late.”
I stop instantly, mouth gaping open as Valaria spins to me at my open door, revealing the bright pink, childlike room.
