Page 19 of Until

"What happened?" he asks.

“Oh, finally something you don’t know?” I snap at him before shaking my head.

I can’t speak anymore. A lump plants itself in my throat. What if she dies? I’m not ready to lose her yet. I don’t know what I would do without her. She is my entire world.

I take a few sips of the water and several deep breaths. I start feeling more like myself again. I stand up and head towards the door. Alex follows close behind me.

"I'll drive you to the hospital," he says. "It'll be faster, and you shouldn’t be alone right now."

I nod as I turn towards him, but as I do, I catch a quick glimpse of his briefcase again. I need to prioritize my grandmother's health. This isn’t about me. It certainly isn’t about some stranger that I met the night before. This is about my grandmother and for my grandmother. I will do anything to help her.

As I follow Alex to his car I tug on his jacket sleeve. He turns to me with a questioning look on his face.

"You said you would take care of her. That you would get her the best care, the best doctors, the best of everything to make her well again."

Alex nods. "I promise that if you agree to do this for me, I will make sure that your grandmother will never need anything ever again.”

“Then I’ll do it,” I say as my stomach twists into knots. “I'll make him fall in love with me. And then when it's time, that’s when I’ll break his heart.”

PART TWO

Until Summer

One Month After Until Midnight

CHAPTER 8

Carina

The musty smell of the subway curls my nostrils. My shoulder bumps into the man standing next to me as the train jerks to a halt.

“Sorry,” I say as I look up at him.

He has dark hair and a strong jawline. For a second, I imagined him wearing an intricately decorated green mask.

Nope, not him.

He grunts, ignoring me.

It’s been three weeks since I played Cinderella at the ball, and every man I see reminds me of my prince.

I join the flow of people as they trek out of the subway station and onto the street. The cold, wintry air bites my cheeks and makes my eyes water. I pull the zipper of my jacket up even though I know it can’t go any higher.

Looking around quickly, I spot the street sign to get my bearings. After all these years of living in the city, you would think taking the subway would be second nature to me. It isn’t. There are still plenty of times I end up going in the wrong direction.

As I start walking, my phone begins to ring.

“Hey,” I say as I answer, knowing it’s Odessa.

“I can hear the traffic. You’re not there yet?” she asks.

“No, I have about a ten-minute walk ahead of me. Why?”

“You said you were going to be there an hour ago. I was hoping to talk to you.”

“I ended up leaving late. Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing. It’s just weird because I, uhh… never mind. It’ll wait.”

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