Chapter 3
Rain hammered the marble and made it impossible to hear anything but water and my own breathing.
I had gotten one step lower. Just one. My hand left Mark's grip for half a second and the cold hit my skin where his fingers had been. The suitcase handle was still in my other hand, its wheels caught on the edge of the next step. My bare feet slid a little on the wet stone and I had to flex my toes to keep from going down. The green beads of my gown were soaked through and heavy against my belly. I cradled underneath with my free hand without thinking.
Mark didn't step back. He stayed two feet behind me, close enough that rain bouncing off his shoulders sprayed my calves. His suit was black with water, his white shirt transparent now. He was breathing hard through his mouth.
"You don't get to do this," he said. His voice was low, not the same loud panic from before. "Sofia, stop."
I didn't answer. I looked up instead.
That was the mistake.
Evelyn and Vanessa hadn't moved. They stood just inside the arch where the rain couldn't reach, the light from the chandelier making a clean gold line across the threshold. Evelyn held her champagne flute in her right hand, elbow tucked neatly against her ivory gown. Vanessa held hers higher, near her collarbone, her red dress catching every bit of light. The stone steps between us were dark and streaming. The doorway behind them was warm, dry, bright.
Evelyn looked at Vanessa first.
It was quick. Evelyn tilted her chin a fraction, her eyes flicked sideways. Vanessa answered with a tiny lift of her eyebrows and then both of them sipped.
They didn't call out. They didn't step forward. Evelyn took a slow sip and lowered the glass. Vanessa smiled a little, not at me, at the scene, like we were a conversation that had run too long. The way they stood shoulder to shoulder made the doorway look smaller, closed.
I felt it settle in my chest, cold and flat. No one inside that house was going to help me tonight. Not after the gala, not after the photographer had already left, not while the music was still playing faintly behind those doors. If I went back up those steps, I would be walking back into their hands. Evelyn would close the door and Vanessa would laugh and say something about hormones, and Mark would explain me away until morning.
I turned my face back to the steps. The black sedan was still there at the bottom, left side, its roof beaded with rain. The driver had left the rear door cracked open when Mark had told him to wait. I could see the yellowish glow of the interior light, the black leather seat. Four more steps down. The suitcase banged against the next edge.
My feet were numb now. I shifted my weight and felt the grit of the stone under my arch.
"Look at me," Mark said behind me. He reached again, not grabbing, hovering near my elbow. "You are barefoot. You're soaking wet. You want to get sick? For what?"
I kept my hand on my belly. The baby had been quiet through dinner, through all the toasts. Now I felt a small, tight roll under my palm, and I breathed out.
"I can't stay in there," I said. My voice was quiet and the rain almost took it.
Mark shook his head, water flying off his hair. "Nobody's asking you to do anything. Just come inside. We talk inside like adults."
Behind me, I heard Evelyn say something low to Vanessa, just a murmur, and then Vanessa laughed once, short and polite. The sound didn't carry far.
I didn't look up again. I needed to stop looking up.
I bent a little and wrenched the suitcase wheels free from the lip of the step. It thumped down to the next one. The handle was slick and I had to grip tighter. Every bead on my dress clicked when I moved.
Mark's hand finally landed on my arm again, light this time, trying to be gentle.
"Sofia, please," he said.
I didn't pull yet. I stood there on that lower step, rain running down my neck into the back of my gown, and made the choice. Not back up. Not into the warm light where two women watched and sipped champagne while I stood barefoot in a storm.
May you like
Down. Toward the open car door.
I leaned into the suitcase and took the next step.
