Page 34 of The Price of a Promise

“Dude, something is wrong with Cora.We just need toseeeach other, you know?It’s probably her dad making shit weird somehow.I mean, isn’t it always?He’s probably tracking her.I dunno—I just need to see her.”

“I know you miss your girlfriend—” Trace started.

“Fiancée,” I corrected sharply.

“Right, your fiancée.But that doesn’t justify selling off shares so you can afford a plane ticket.”Trace dipped his head, sending me an admonishing look from over his takeout container.He managed the family fortune, as I liked to call it.Really, it was an expertly diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds, and more that Trace managed and grew for us so we could reap the dividends each quarter.It was one of the main reasons we could stay afloat in Manhattan—his ingenuity.“We have to be smart.We’re on limited resources until I get this job or we snag a few early clients for our business.”

“But something is wrong.I know it is.”I took another bite of food, unnerved by how bland I found it.That alone was a sign that something needed to be done.“I can’t explain it.”

“I think you’ve got the jitters,” Damian offered.

“Fuck your jitters,” I told him.“Cora and I, we’re connected, okay?”I stabbed angrily at a piece of chicken and then realized I actually wasn’t hungry anymore.I set the container down and leaned back on the couch, interlocking my fingers across my forehead.“She’s been acting weird since she left.And I’ve gotta figure out why.”

The thing about grad school was that it sucked.The days were long, and the money struggles were real.That didn’t even take into account my internship, which paid just enough to skirt labor laws.But even with how much was going on in my day-to-day, I could still count the accumulating absences of Cora.

They piled up in the lengthy response times, seconds stacked on minutes stacked on entire days.They sliced at me with each unanswered call.The short, abnormally stilted calls with Cora, like the night of the crypto chicken teriyaki, started happening more and more.I even sent flowers to her house once, got the delivery confirmation, and she didn’t mention them for two entire days.Sometimes, she’d message me from inside a social media app for the first time in a day.Who the fuck did stuff like that after three years together and an engagement?

Not my Cora.The more time that trudged by, the worse I felt about it.She always dodged the distance comment.No matter how many times I mentioned the distance growing like a chasm between us, she’d deflect, divert, or hang up.

I felt like I was engaged to a shadow, the wisps of which disappeared anytime I happened to catch a glimpse.

And as far as I was concerned, it wasn’t going to continue like this.The semester was almost over, which meant Cora should be coming home for the holidays soon.But I hadn’t heard a peep out of her about it.A week before Christmas, I decided enough was enough.I’d get her to open up.To stop stressing about classes—if that’s what this really was—or take a chill pill or whatever she needed to do.

AXEL: Call me ASAP.Very important.

I sent the message through the last random social media app she’d used to message me and waited.I waited all fucking day, in fact.I spent the entire day bouncing between the business and economics library and my exams scattered around campus.This was the second-to-last exam period I’d ever have in my life—wasn’t that incredible—but I could barely enjoy how close I was to getting my MBA because all I could think about was Cora.

I finally got a call from a random ass LA number around eight p.m.It had to be her.Because this was normal now.

“Cora?”I asked as I picked up.

“Axel.Hey.What’s up?”

I peered around the walls of my library study cubby.I couldn’t have this conversation here.They’d shush me out of the damn building.I bolted for the stairwell, keeping my voice low.“Just finishing up some studying for my last exam.How are you?”

Her pause said more than her words.“I’m okay.”

“Are you?”I pushed out into the stairwell, a gust of cool, paper-tinged air whooshing around me.

“Of course.Why wouldn’t I be?”

I expelled a breath I’d been holding.“Because you’re acting super fucking weird these days.”

When she remained quiet, I realized it was because she didn’t even have a way to defend herself.So she recognized it too.

“What’s going on with you, babe?”I asked softly.My fingers twitched from wanting to see her.Hold her.Soothe her.“You’ve got me worried.”

“I don’t know.”Her voice sounded a million miles away.“I don’t know, Axel.”

“Well, can we fix this?”I leaned against the wall, staring through the thick, square window in the stairwell door, back into the library proper.Inside there, everything was orderly.Organized.The opposite of the majority of my childhood.It represented the pinnacle of everything I’d fought for alongside my brothers.But here in the stairwell, my entire world threatened to unravel.Whatever Cora said during this phone call had the power to demolish everything.

She’d always had that power, because I’d willingly ceded it to her.She was the only woman in the world who would ever get it.

Cora was quiet for a while, which grated on me.

“Cora,” I snapped.“What is going on?You need to talk to me.”

“I am.”

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