Page 70 of Heartsong
He took my phone so I wouldn’t get up in time.
He’d barricaded her inside the apartment so she couldn’t leave for work.
Annascreeched.
She flew at him and pushed at his solid stone chest. Nothing happened.
She pushed again, pushed and shoved and kicked his shin but stopped when it only stubbed her toes. She smacked his chest and tried pushing him from the side. Nothing.
“You fucking asshole!”
She screeched again, hot, frustrated tears leaking down her cheeks.
How could he do this to me?
She had to go to work! She was already late! And she was supposed to be taking a long lunch to go get her MRI today!
He’d know that if you’d told him,whispered a traitorous little voice inside her.
Anna wasn’t sure that would’ve made a difference. He was so fucking determined to keep her here with him. Well, she wasn’t going to be some princess locked away in a tower by an evil beast. She was her own fucking person and how dare he try to stop her? She—theyhad bills! Life wasn’t free!
Smacking him one more time, Anna balled up a dishcloth and threw it over his face. She wasn’t sure how much he could “see” in his stone state, but now he’d enjoy just damp terrycloth.
She didn’t know if he could “hear” either, but she still growled at him, “I’m going to work, asshole, and I’ll get home whenever I fucking decide to.”
Anna didn’t think, just hurried through an abbreviated morning routine. She texted Carrie to let her know she’d overslept but would be in shortly. She fed Captain even though Frey had left out his morning meal of shredded chicken already.
And then, as she opened the window to shimmy up to the roof, she stuck her tongue out at her butthead roommate.
An acrobat Anna was not. It was harrowing climbing up the fire escape to the roof then using her keys to get in the door. She took the stairs down to ground level, really hoping no one, especially the SUV still parked across the street, saw her morning stunt.
By the time Anna got into work, she was huffing, puffing, and sweaty despite the chilly fog blanketing the city. She was over an hour late and apologized profusely to Carrie, who’d taken over the front desk.
“Please don’t trouble yourself,” Carrie said as she signed out of the computer, “we all have those mornings.”
“It won’t happen again,” Anna rushed to assure her. She cringed having to remind her boss, “Today I’m taking a long lunch for an appointment.”
“Yes, that’s right. That will be fine, Suzie or Brian can cover the extra time.”
“I can stay later if you need, do the last sweep, and—”
“Anna.” Carrie placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “It’s all right. You’re a wonderful employee and you’ve asked so little of us. You do what you need to do.”
She nodded jerkily and bade Carrie good morning as her boss headed off into the museum. The compliments were hard to swallow, and Anna was too paranoid not to read into them. Either she’d stay late or take the time off. She didn’t want to be indebted to the Gwyneths.
Later that afternoon, Anna walked back to the museum after her appointment, head throbbing. The shakeup in routine, with her tardiness and lunchtime appointment, plus her boiling anger with Frey and lackluster vending machine lunch meant that it was almost a full-blown migraine by the time she made it back to the Milton Building.
She wanted to get her day back on track, find a little comfort in routine and normalcy. Maybe spending the last few hours sitting still at the desk would take her headache down a few notches.
But, of course, the universe wasn’t that kind.
“Hello, Miss Anna.”
She looked up, startled to see Andrew Glendower holding the door open for her. She still had a few steps to get to the door and had meant to turn down the alleyway for the side door, but now that he was holding the heavy front door open, she had no choice but to hustle inside.
“Thank you,” she said, feeling every footstep on the stone floor as she walked over to the front desk.
Glendower followed and watched with a small smile as she shed her jacket and scarf.
