VICTORIOUS (A Quantum Novel)(8)

“Whatever happened with Flynn, I hope you guys can work it out,” she says when we’re in an SUV heading for her place. “You looked so happy on TV. It looked real. Livvy and I both said that.”

“It was real.” It was the most “real” thing I’ve ever experienced. “Please don’t tell anyone about me being upset with him. Please, Candace… It would cause so much trouble for him if that ever got out.”

“I won’t say a word. I promise.”

I hug her again. “I love you, and I’m so glad I got to see you.”

“Love you, too. We’ll get together again soon.”

“Yes, we will. Call me. Text me. FaceTime me. Any time. All the time.”

“I will. You do the same.”

When we arrive at her apartment building, we hug again, clinging to each other like we’re both afraid to let go.

“You’re not going to disappear again, are you?” She sounds like the little girl I left behind eight long years ago.

“Never. I promise.”

“Okay, then I’ll let you go. For now.”

I’m happy to see where she lives, but she’s running late for work, so I don’t go inside, which is just as well. I have no desire to go in there, dragging security behind me. She hugs me one more time before she gets out of the car and runs off with a wave.

Once she’s inside the building, the SUV takes off like a shot for the airport, and I’m forced to confront the pain I’ve mostly managed to put on hold while I enjoyed the reunion with my sister. It comes down on me all over again, and when we arrive at the airport, it’s all I can do not to ask them to take me to LA rather than New York.

I have to get back to work before I need to use the money Flynn has made available to me. I don’t feel right taking money from him after having left him.

The flight to New York on the private plane is better than yesterday’s flight, but the pilots tell us it’s snowing and sleeting in New York. The weather only adds to my morose mood. I console myself by thinking about the cozy apartment I share with my good friend—and colleague—Leah. Decisions have to be made, and Leah will help me figure out my next steps.

When we get the word that Teterboro is closed to arrivals due to the weather, we are forced to land at LaGuardia and to navigate the terminal, which is mobbed. A woman in the concourse screams my name when she sees me, which attracts the attention of everyone in a half-mile radius. So much for my certainty that no one will recognize me unless Flynn is with me. Fluff starts barking and snarling at the screamers, so I pick her up to carry her.

Josh and Seth leap into action, escorting me through the crowd that surrounds us so quickly, I have no time to do anything other than put my head down and keep moving. I’m deeply grateful for their presence and to Flynn for caring enough to provide for my safety. I wouldn’t have the first clue how to deal with this by myself.

Fluff is going crazy in my arms, barking, snapping and trying to get free.

After my cover is blown, Josh and Seth move quickly to get me out of there, bypassing baggage claim to deliver me directly to an SUV that waits at the curb. How they arrange these things the way they do is a source of constant amazement to me. Then Josh goes back inside to get our bags while Seth takes Fluff to pee before returning her to me.

When he’s settled in the driver’s seat, Seth turns to me. “Did you know your school announced that they’ve offered you your job back?”

“N-no. They didn’t tell me they were doing that.”

“The paparazzi have your building, Mr. Godfrey’s place and the school surrounded. We can’t take you home. There’s no way we can get you in there.”

I’m temporarily petrified by the idea that I have nowhere to go. Ending up homeless was once my greatest fear, when I was struggling through college on a shoestring budget, always one step ahead of disaster.

“Where… Where will we go?”

“We can get you into Mr. Godfrey’s apartment through the garage.”

Before I can tell him I don’t want to go to Mr. Godfrey’s apartment, Josh is getting into the passenger seat and we’re leaving the airport. If I tell them I don’t want to go to Flynn’s, how can I be sure they won’t tell someone I said that? I’m very concerned about doing something to draw more attention to my relationship with Flynn. We’ve already had more than enough.

So I say nothing. It’s not like his place isn’t lovely. It’ll hardly be a hardship to spend time there. And he has that amazing tub that he never uses, a memory that has tears stinging my eyes. I can’t imagine what it’ll be like to be there without him.