Page 50 of Return To You

I stop at the coffee machine. “Who? What are you talking about?”

She puts her fists on her hips. “You didn’t listen to your messages.”

My messages. My phone? No. No, I did not. I stupidly pull out my phone out and see I have twelve voicemails and fifteen unread text messages.

Weirdly, nothing from Mom.

Skimming through the text messages, I can tell they all have to do with the sale of the building.

A cold anger fills me. “Who’s coming in thirty minutes?”

Claudia twists her hands. “A realtor. With a client.”

A realtor has the nerve to come visit my spa on a Saturday? Without asking me politely first? “When’s our first client?” I already know the answer, but since I already missed what amounts to the Apocalypse, checking with Claudia seems wise.

“At ten.”

That gives us two hours.

I group text my friends.

Me

ur needed ASAP. Bring ideas.

My phone rings immediately. Alex. “Finally,” she says when I pick up. “I have bad news and more bad news. Which one do you want first?”

“Very funny. Are you in your car?”

“Yes. You said to come over and bring ammo, so I’m stopping at Easy Monday’s.”

Thank god. “You’ll tell me the news here.” I hang up and turn to Claudia.

“You know what’s really weird? That no one was worried last night when I wasn’t picking up.”

Claudia reddens. “They um—we…” she clears her throat. “Word got around that maybe you and Ethan had gotten into a disagreement. And so the… the general consensus was to leave you be. For now. But then the realtor left a message on this phone,” she says, pointing to her desk, “and we…”

“I could have been injured in my home! No one was worried?”

Claudia’s redness is now bordering on crimson. “Your—your mom went by your place, and she assessed that you-you-you just needed a little time.”

Great.

Did she actually look through the window?

Well, at least they were worried.

None of this dying alone at home business for me. Yet.

I pull out the lease agreement again, then put it back into the filing cabinet. There’s no time for me to read over it at this point. I look around, at a loss as to what to do right now.

The front door chimes and Kiara comes in, carrying four huge pink boxes. She passes them to Claudia, dashes to her car and comes back with… what is she doing with my mug? How did she even get it?

“Maple Kiss for you, and double chocolate mousse brownies, chocolate eclairs, and chocolate tartlets, apple cinnamon donuts, and chocolate donuts for the Bitch Brigade.”

The Bitch Brigade?

Claudia opens the pastry boxes next to the coffee station and sets a stack of flowery napkins next to the pastries. “That’s a lot of chocolate,” she says as she sets more napkins on the side tables.

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