Chapter 10: The Child In Light Blue On The Floor Again
The key was warm from my hand. My palm had closed around it so tight the teeth left marks I could still feel after I let go. Daniel stood half a step in front of me in the hallway, his shoulder angled toward the ballroom doors where Richard was still talking to the catering manager. I could hear Richard's voice, low and controlled, the way he sounded when he was trying to keep a smile on for someone else.
Daniel didn't look at me when I slid the key into the lock of the dressing suite. He just kept his body between me and that hallway.
The lock turned. It was a soft click, too soft for what it was.
I pushed the door open.
The suite was the same as we'd left it that afternoon for photos. Bright white walls, the vanity lights still on, my makeup case open on the counter, the garment bag hanging empty on the brass hook. And on the carpet, in the corner by the floor-length mirror, Lily was curled on her side.
She wore the same light blue outfit from earlier, the soft cotton set with the little cuffed pants. Her knees were pulled up to her chest. She wasn't crying. She wasn't making any sound at all. Her hair had fallen forward over her face and her hands were tucked under her cheek like she had tried to make herself small enough to disappear behind the chair leg.
It was exactly how she had looked on the floor in the hallway at home. The same position. The same quiet.
Mara sat on the bench by the window, perched on the edge like she wasn't sure she was allowed to sit at all. She was nineteen, maybe twenty, one of the foundation interns Richard had insisted was "better than a stranger" for watching Lily during the cocktail hour. When I came in, she stood up too fast and her hands twisted together.
"Mrs. Ellis, I'm sorry," she said. Her voice was thin. "He said to keep the door locked."
Lily lifted her head when she heard my dress rustle. The red fabric made a soft sound against the carpet as I went to her. I didn't call out. I just knelt.
That red wrap dress bunched at my knees, and the teardrop diamonds swung forward as I bent down. Lily didn't hesitate. She scrambled the few inches across the carpet and buried her face in my chest, her hands fisting in the ruched fabric at my waist. Her forehead pressed hard against the pendant of the necklace. I felt the metal warm between us, and her breath coming fast and shallow against my skin.
I put one hand on the back of her head, the other around her small back. She was trembling but still not crying. That quiet scared me more than tears would have.
"It's okay," I whispered. "I've got you. I've got you now."
Daniel had stepped inside and eased the door closed behind us, but he didn't come closer. He stood with his back to the door, his gray suit jacket pulling at the shoulders, his neck tattoos visible above the open collar of his white shirt. He watched the hallway through the narrow gap, giving us the room.
Mara was still standing by the bench, her eyes red. "Mr. Ellis told me not to open it for anyone but him," she said, and the words came out in a rush. "He said you and Mr. Reyes would try to come get her early and to wait for him. He said it was about the photos and keeping the schedule. He said if I opened it I wouldn't be paid and it would look bad for the foundation. I didn't know what to do. She just... she sat down there by herself and wouldn't move."
I kept my hand on Lily, feeling her grip tighten in my dress. The diamonds pressed into her cheek and she didn't pull away.
"How long has she been on the floor?" I asked.
"Almost an hour," Mara said. "Since he brought her in. She asked for you once and then she just curled up. I tried to give her the iPad but she wouldn't take it."
I nodded. I couldn't look at Mara and be angry at her. She was a kid herself, doing what a man like Richard told her to do in that calm, reasonable tone that made disobedience feel like you were the one being difficult.
Lily made a small sound then, not words, just air against the stones of the necklace. I lifted her. She was five but felt heavier than that, all dead weight and clinging arms. Her legs wrapped around my waist and her face stayed buried in my neck, hidden. The light blue fabric of her sleeve was damp where she'd been chewing it.
Daniel turned his head enough to meet my eyes. "Service hall's clear," he said quietly. "We can go out past the kitchen. My truck's at the side lot, like we planned."
For a second I thought about the ballroom, the sixty tables, the speech I was supposed to give, Richard waiting by the doors with that smile. Going back in would be easier. It would be one more hour of pretending.
Lily's hand found the chain of my necklace and held on.
I adjusted her weight in my arms, felt the solid warmth of her against the red dress, and made the decision that had been forming since I saw her on that floor the first time.
"We're not going back out there," I said. It was barely above a whisper, but Daniel heard it. "Not through the ballroom."
May you like
He gave a short nod and opened the suite door just enough to check the corridor that led to the service hallway. The pendant light buzzed faintly overhead.
I didn't let go of Lily. I didn't need to set her down to know we were leaving that way.
