Page 33 of So Bleak

“So we shoot video, then we splice it all together at the end and upload it to the platforms. She likes doing Instagram first usually, but we were going to try TikTok this time. That’s the trendy thing now. Anyway, we were getting the shot where she was biting into the sandwich—Oh, she ordered a croque monsieur, by the way. Do you know what that is?”

“No, but that’s fine. So she did bite the food, or she didn’t?”

“She did. She took a bite and was about to talk about how delicious it was, and then she just fell over dead.”

“Just like that?”

“Pretty much. She started sweating a lot and said she felt dizzy. Then she tried to stand, but she just dropped. Like a sack of flour. Just…" He folded his hands in front of him and began tapping the table with his fists. "I don't even know if she heard me. You know, I was trying to ask her what's wrong, then I was just calling her name, and then… when she stopped breathing, I just kept saying I love you, I love you, Lila, please don't go."

A memory flashed across Faith's mind of David lying in a hospital bed with tubes and wires coming out of him. West had beaten him to the edge of death, and for a while, Faith was preparing for the possibility that she would never see him again.

But she had beaten West. He threatened to break her, but she had broken him. She would find the person who had done this to Lila Vance and break them too.

“I hate to have to ask this,” she said, “but can you think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt Lila? A rival vlogger, maybe?”

He chuckled through his tears. “No, the vlogging world isn't really like that. Unless you call someone out, we're all really supportive of each other. That's the awesome thing about the Internet, is you don't really have to compete. Most people subscribe to dozens of channels, even hundreds, across multiple platforms. Usually, the best way to get subscribers is to have an established channel recommend you or feature you on their channel. Lila featured a bunch of people, and she was always super nice to them."

“So the attitude was really only reserved for you?”

“Any time she was alone. And for me. That’s how I knew she really loved me was when she let that part of herself show. I always loved it because… I don’t know, it was her. It was Lila. She was a feisty, sassy milf with a food blog…” He turned beet red. “Oh God. Please don’t put down that I called her that.”

Faith smiled. “I won’t. I assume you meant it as a compliment anyway.”

“Oh yeah. She was perfect.”

“Had she been complaining about any unusual physical symptoms lately?”

He shook his head. “No. This came out of nowhere. I have no idea what could have caused it.”

Story of my life. “And emotionally, she didn’t seem off in any way? Quieter, more moody, sassier than usual?”

“No, she seemed really happy, actually. She was worried about getting older and she was worried about falling too far behind with TikTok, but other than that, she was all right. This came out of nowhere. Part of me is still hoping it’s a bad dream, and I wake up and she’s next to me, moaning because the sun’s up and she has to get out of bed.” He smiled wistfully. “Man, I’m going to miss that.”

His eyes moistened, and he buried his face in his hands and began to shake again. Faith put a hand on his shoulder and said gently but firmly. “You need to get some rest, okay? Let us handle all of this. You take the night off, and in the morning, you handle whatever you need to handle about Lila. But tonight, you just take it easy. Do you have friends or family you can stay with so you’re not alone?”

He nodded. “Yeah, uh, my brother. He knows about Lila. My parents wouldn’t approve because of the age gap, but he likes her. Liked her. Goddamn.”

“Call him,” she said. “Get out of here. We’ve got this.”

“Can I… Can I say goodbye to her?”

She thought about her answer for a moment. “I would really suggest that you not do that. You shouldn’t let your last memory of her be… this.”

He sighed and slumped forward. “Yeah. You’re right. It’s just… damn.”

“I know. You’ll be okay. Not for a while. Maybe not for a long while. But you’ll be okay. You’ll do it for yourself and for her. She’d want you to be happy, right?”

He took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, she would.”

“Then you’ll be okay.”

She squeezed his shoulder one last time, then walked back to the restaurant. Just before she got to the door, a short, dark-haired woman a few years younger than Faith rushed out of the restaurant, nearly colliding with Faith. Michael came barreling after, pointing at her and shouting, “Stop! Stop her!”

Faith didn’t have a chance to join the chase. As soon as Michael called out, Turk leapt from the door like a missile, snarling and chasing down the fleeing woman within a few seconds.

She looked over her shoulder and screamed when she saw Turk. “All right! I surrender! Please don’t let him hurt me!”

Turk, correctly guessing that the suspect was cowed into submission, stopped before attacking her and growled, teeth bared. The woman sobbed and backpedaled, her hands held in front of her in a warding gesture.

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