Page 113 of Heartstruck at Dawn
I nodded.
Frankie placed the mirror in front of me, and I couldn’t believe it. It looked great. I looked so different. Good different. “I love it, Frankie. Thank you so much.” In the end, she parted my hair to the side. It looked silky and smooth.
It was noon when we were finally done. I was getting hungry, so I went back to my apartment to eat something while Ilaria arrived. She wanted us to be ready at 3:00 p.m. so we could leave at 4:00 p.m. So there was still plenty of time before we left.
Me:I’m headed down to my apartment. Meet you there?
Caleb:I’ll be right up.
I kept thinking about Nathan and what his reaction would be to my short hair. I knew he loved my long hair. I just hoped he liked it.
Caleb knocked, and I rushed to the door.
“Happy birthday!” I gave him a big, warm hug.
“Your hair! You cut it,” he said, observing it.
“I—did. What do you think?”
“It’s—wow. I mean, you look so different. I like it. It’s going to take some time to get used to this new look for sure. But you look beautiful,” he said, his mouth slightly curving into a small smile.
“Thank you. This is for you.” I gave him a small box with a red bow. “Go ahead, open it.”
Caleb took a Statue of Liberty keychain out of the small box and read the note inside: “We’ll always have Paris,but New York isn’t half bad either.” He grinned. “Thank you.”
It was a simple gift but full of meaning. I loved the Eiffel Tower keychain he gave me last year, and I thought I’d reciprocate the gesture.
“I really appreciate this. I—thank you,” he said again. “I’ll keep it forever.”
I planned to keep my Eiffel Tower keychain forever too.
I smiled at him and said, “I wanted to give you your present, but I guess I’ll see you later?” I hugged him again and went back inside to have something to eat. Mimi had the table ready for me.
I was almost done eating when Nathan texted me.
Nathan:I’m about to call you from an unknown number. Please pick it up.
Me:Of course.
“Hey, you! What’s up?”
“Hey, Murph. Can you hear me all right?” A deepzoomnoise in the background clouded his voice a bit, but I could hear him.
“Yes, I do. Where are you?”
“I’m in a meeting in Mr. Chapman’s airplane. We just took off. We’re on our way to London,” he said with a genuinely disappointed tone. “I’m so sorry, love. I obviously won’t be able to make it to Tobias’s premiere. I know how excited you were about going. I was too.”
“Oh, no! Couldn’t you have the meeting before he left? I really wanted you to come with me.”
“I know. I’m so terribly sorry, love. But Mr. Chapman had to go back to London, and we needed to talk about a situation going on with a client, so that’s why he brought us with him. Aiden and I will fly back on the next available flight once we get there.”
“Okay, I’ll um—talk to Tobias and tell him I won’t go. I don’t want to go without you.”
“Nonsense. You’re going. Besides, don’t you already have your outfit? You’re probably getting ready, right?”
“Well, yeah. Lily and I had our hair and makeup done already.”
“I’m sure you look lovely,” he whispered.
