Page 124 of Swim To Me

My legs feel like jelly beneath me, but I force them to move towards the exit. I’ll wait for Aura on the street so as to not draw any more attention to myself at work. Plus, some fresh air right now sounds glorious. My thumb keys in the passcode to my phone with a mind of its own, hovering above the small news folder sitting oh-so-nonchalantly in the bottom navigation bar.

I’m a hairsbreadth from tapping on it when I hear the receptionist squeak, “Excuse me! You can’t come in here!”

I look up, staring straight into the bright lens of a long camera which is attached to an elated looking man.

“Delilah! Over here! Smile for the camera, darling!”

Chapter 31

Grey

For the second time today, the loud sound of a phone ringing wakes me abruptly.

Cracking one eye open, I stare at the contact name flashing up on my mobile, blearily registering the fact one of my brother’s is calling me – Blake. Repressing a yawn with the back of one hand, I use my other hand to swipe the pad of my thumb over the screen, accepting the call and holding the phone to my ear.

“Is Delilah with you?”

Those are the first word’s out of Blake’s mouth.

“Morning, to you too, mate.”

“Is she?”

The strained tone in Blake’s voice makes me rub the crusty sleep from the corners of my eyes and sit up. “No, she had to go into an emergency work meeting. Why what’s wrong?”

“Have you seen the news?”

“Seen the news? I’ve only just woken up, what’s—”

“You’re on the front cover of today’s newspaper. You and Delilah.”

I jolt out of bed at that.

“The front page?” I repeat, hearing the sheer disbelief tinge my tone.

“Yep.”

I scour the room for a spare pair of tracksuit bottoms to put on. “How did you find out?”

“It popped up on the newsfeed on my phone then Mum rang me. She’s probably rung you too, but you were obviously asleep.”

“I need a copy,” I say, putting Blake on speakerphone while I shove my head through the neckline of a random t-shirt I find. “I need to see how bad it is… fuck. I need to speak to Delilah. What time is it?”

Blake rattles of the time. It’s mid-morning, much later than I usually sleep in. Delilah’s meeting was early, surely, she should be out of the office by now and on her way back to the apartment. Unless…

She’s already seen it.

Fuck.

She’s probably freaking out right about now. This is everything she worried would happen, everything she was afraid of.

“Blake. I need to go.”

“Do you want me to come over?”

“No, I’m—” I slip my feet into last night’s dress shoes, grab the spare key and sprint down Delilah’s apartment stairs. “No, I’m not even at mine, I stayed at Delilah’s last night. I’m going to get a paper right now and I’ll—”

“Just call me back when you can, no rush.”

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