Page 158 of Love Notes & Lifelines
“We should probably get back in there,” Beck finally says. “Are you ready to tell our side?”
I suck in a deep breath but stand and hold my head high. “I am. I just need a minute alone.”
“Stella,” he says, worry etched into his face.
“I’m okay. Really. I’m just going to walk the halls for a minute and release some of this anxiety.” I shake out my arms for effect.
“You sure?” He’s definitely not convinced.
“Yes. A few laps of the hallways and I’ll be good to go.”
He laughs, then leans in to kiss my cheek.
“Go,” I tell him. “I’ll meet you in there.”
He glances around. “You’re positive?”
I nod. Even if I were to run into Danica now, it’s not like she could do anything. “I’m sure. I’ll head into the courtroom in a minute.”
I wait until he enters the conference room we were assigned, then head in the other direction. I have no idea where I’m going, but I do need to move. My skin is itchy, and anxiety is making my muscles hurt from being so tense all day.
I’m on my second lap when I look up and stop cold. Caleb is headed straight for me. I spin in a circle, hoping he hasn’t lifted his eyes from his phone yet, and dart into the nearest unlocked room.
When the door shuts, I inhale deeply, then release it slowly. It’s some kind of conference room that’s currently pulling double duty as a storage room.
“In here,” Caleb says on the other side of the door, and my heart races so fast I become dizzy. The only place to hide in hereis behind a small folding partition along the back wall, so I run to it and duck down just as I hear the door open.
Hushed words filter in a moment later, and alarm bells ring like a warning, but my ears still strain to listen.
“Did you even check to make sure this room was empty before barging in?” Danica hisses.
I press my back into the cool cement wall and try not to make a sound as I reach for my phone in my bag. Can’t a girl catch a freaking break around here?
“There’s no one in here, see?” Caleb sighs heavily.
Wait. Did he not see me enter?
My heart thuds in my ears, but I wake up my phone and hit record. Surely it can’t be this easy—nothing is ever this easy.
“What do you want?” Danica demands.
“You haven’t been home in a week. What did you expect me to do?”
It takes so much effort to hold in a gasp, but it helps that I might not even be breathing.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Danica scoffs.
“I love you.”
“And you’re a fucking fool.” The vitriol in Danica’s voice has my heart clenching painfully. I know that kind of abuse.
“Am I? Was it all a lie?”
Danica’s laugh is cruel. “It’s a good thing you’re so pretty because you’re an idiot. You were a means to an end and not even a very good fuck.”
“That’s not what this was, and you know it.”
Their steps are muted from the worn carpet, but their feet make swishing sounds that alert me when they’re close. Someone is pacing.
