Page 18 of From You to Me

The same unease came back in full force, twisting my stomach in knots. I averted my gaze, trying to suppress it, but it just wouldn’t stop. I felt like I was going to be sick.

“Evy?”

“Hmm.” I returned my eyes to her. “Nothing. I just had to get away, so I pretended to cheat,” I lied. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. This was a perfect opportunity for me to say something, but I couldn’t. The words were right there, but I couldn’t spell it out without that unease coming back again.Was I scared?

“Yeah, right.” Her eyes narrowed like she couldn’t believe a word I said.

An awkward silence stretched between us. I held my gaze downward, flicking the nail on my thumb as my nervousness grew with each minute.

I heard Lily sigh. “Fine, Evy, whatever you say.”

My eyes flickered back to her once again as I nodded.

Just then, we heard voices coming from outside. It looked like Jay was back. A different kind of nervousness overtook me, but I was glad for the distraction.

“I should probably get back and clean all this up.” I stood on shaky feet as I placed the empty cartons into the brown paper bag.

“I can help you.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s my job anyway.”

Her face scrunched up in confusion. “Wait, you told me that you work here? But you didn’t tell me what you do? What work can you possibly do here? Emmie would have never hired you.”

My cheeks splotched red in embarrassment. “I work here as a maid,” I mumbled.

Lily grabbed my hand and turned me to face her. “What!? A maid! Didn’t you get selected to study at Yale, Evy?”

I sighed. “Well, things didn’t work out. I rejected the application and ended up in New York. And trying to be a writer didn’t really pay the bills, so here I am.”

Her eyes softened. “I’m sorry.”

My lips curled into a tight smile as I nodded.

Loud laughter rang through from the outside hall.

“We should go.”

Lily frowned as she walked beside me. “Why are you limping, Evy?”

I didn’t even realize that my limp had become prominent. I usually tried my best to walk as straight as possible. But sometimes, the pain was too much, and I ended up shuffling harder than I usually do.

“I hurt my knees a while ago, and it keeps bothering me sometimes.”

“Do you need to get it fixed or something?”

“No, I’m fine,” I assured her as we walked closer to the voices. My heart started to pick up as the anxiety rushed at the vicinity of his presence.

The conversation stopped abruptly as three pairs of eyes locked on us as we walked in.

One cold. One warm. And the other looked shocked.

I swallowed, ignoring Jay’s tense eyes as I glanced at Matt, who looked stunned from his place on the couch.

All three of them were dressed in suits. I guessed they were in the meeting.

Mikey’s gaze drifted from mine and locked on Lily’s. The warmth in his eyes disappeared as quickly as it came, replaced with a detached stare.

Through the corner of my eyes, I could feel Lily stiffen up, but she put on a smile as she headed toward her brother.

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