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She picks at a hangnail, her mouth turned down into a frown "I’d already seen you in the tabloids by then, of course, and I was so pissed at hiirl, but the one he really wanted was , and that’s when I realized the truth This tiht atyou up as an example for me He thinks I’ I kno to turn it around" She shrugs "But that’s all you are to him, you know Just a stone on the path of et ether and be with him He loves me He has always loved me And I was there first So now you need to move out of the way"

Move? Her words throw me, and I realize with a start that she isn’t here to hurt ame

"You want me to break up with Da I can ith that I can pretend to agree I can get out of here Away froo soon, and he’ll knohat to do How to handle her

"No," she says "You want to break up with Damien Because you know that if you don’t, what I’ll release to the press will destroy him And isn’t that what love is all about, Nikki? Isn’t it about protecting the ones you love? Just like the way Daun to recede presses against s "Why not? It’s not like anyone can tell it’s me Only Damien is identifiable"

"Why not?" I repeat "Because you’re sitting here telling me you love him But that would absolutely destroy hi hio, I don’t have a choice How can you not see that?"

She takes a deep breath, then says brightly, "Well, I guess that about wraps things up here" She stands, then nods at the desk and the photos scattered across it "You can keep those Like a souvenir And, oh, I forgot about this" She reaches into her bag and pulls out a set that this situation is hard on you, I really do So I thought this ht help" She puts the case on the corner of my desk, then hikes the purse back up on her shoulder "And don’t even think about calling your security guy Those friends I mentioned? I told them to release the photos to the press if I didn’t show up or if I got arrested or any silly shit like that" Once again, she flashes that sh"

And then she’s sweeping out the door, leavingdown at an array of photographs that have the power to destroy the man that I love

I am frozen, I think That’s why I can’t oddamn cold

But I don’t want to move I want to sit here forever I don’t want to see the world outside my office door It is destroyed A wasteland Harsh and desolate

How could it be anything else now that the bubble has finally shattered and the nightmares have swooped in?

I do not want to see, and yet I cannot help but glance down at the photo on top of the pile Daris wide, head back, back arched in a mockery of passion She is unidentifiable, but I do not doubt that she is Sofia

He’s mine He killed for me He’s mine

With a violence that surprisesthe photos, the papers, the pens on the desk flying across the room All that re in the rays of afternoon light seeping in froht shimmer so that it blinks out a pattern on the innocuous case I stare, e As if they are callingto lock me inside this new hell into which I have tue noise as I snatch the case, then realize it is my ohimper Part of me doesn’t want to know, but the other part is too curious to be contained I unzip it--then stare in horror at the glea set of antique scalpels