I smile.
 
 “Are you alone?”
 
 “Would I talk to you if I were?’
 
 “Would you be with someone, considering…?”
 
 He chuckles.
 
 “I don’t know.”
 
 “What kind of answer is that?” I murmur.
 
 “What kind of question is that?”
 
 “Fair…” I say.
 
 “Would you like to be here with me?” he asks.
 
 “I wouldn’t say no.”
 
 A few moments pass.
 
 “What did he do to you?” he asks.
 
 I pause, no longer smiling.
 
 “Carinõ?”
 
 “Nothing. We had a fight. I don’t want to talk about him. I just wanted to hear your voice.”
 
 My words sound affectionate, and they fully express the truth.
 
 I missed him.
 
 I also miss being carefree. Not having chains around my heart.
 
 “How’s life in Manhattan?” he asks.
 
 I smile faintly.
 
 “Crazy. I ran into Roman this evening.”
 
 He pauses.
 
 “I don’t want to talk about them,” I say.
 
 “Them? Is there something I don’t know?”
 
 “No. Roman and Kai attended a business dinner this evening.”
 
 “I know that.”
 
 “You do?”
 
 “Yes. I didn’t know they’d get together tonight, but I knew Roman had flown to New York, and Kai had told me he was busy tonight.”
 
 ‘Doing what?’ I almost ask.
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 