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"Maybe just an innocent hug?"

"On the inside of his dress pants, too And a receipt for a hotel in his pocket"

You’re busted, Viktor I can’t lie--I’lad Alex knows, even if it hurts her That was a feeeks ago, she said? Around the saot a flat tire Is that what sparked the tears, the questionsthe kiss? "And you know it’s her?" I should probably warn Boone, in case Viktor’s the type of guy who gets territorial about his rubbing wife, that I don’t knohat he’s doing Or that I should just look the other way and go shopping" A bitter chuckle escapes her lips "I don’t even like shopping I’d take a husband who loved me over all the money in the world"

I hardly know her, but I believe that she’s telling the truth "And what’d he say about it?"

She pauses "Nothing I haven’tto?"

I alht But then she touches her cheek, her eyes drifting

And it clicks

"You’re afraid of what he’ll do"

"Viktor doesn’t take well to accusations"

Has she made that mistake before and learned her lesson? Do I want to know? I chew on that question until the words cru around on his beautiful, young wife, I’d hate to see what life’s going to be like for you down the road"

There’s a pause and then she asks, so faintly I almost miss it, "You think I’ expedition; soured out that she is

I keepnotes inelse, I hazard a glance overchair with her textbook in hand, watching me Her eyes drop to her lap instantly

"How did you and Viktorbusiness I worked for her, scrubbing strangers’ toilets and washing floors, before and after school and on weekends, long before I was legally old enough to do so Viktor was a client; he has a condo in Seattle I was seventeen when I met him" A sad smile curls her lips as she reminisces "I was terrified of him at first Soe I love to cook and he’d leavedinner ready for hi roses for me every week, with the cash One day, he offered to treat me to dinner and I said yes He was kind and handso care ofto worry about" She shrugs "I was na&iury because we couldn’t pay the bills The last thing I wanted to do was follow in ers to the bone and collapsing in bed froht I wanted ot hteenth birthday" Her chin dips down as she focuses on a spot on the ground, her voice soft andand I felt like Cinderella"

"And now?"

"And now" The two si e out with a deep, slow breath that she releases with her eyes closed "Now I don’t believe in fairy tales Or at least, not in the happily-ever-afters that Disney brainwashed us all with"

I open ht at The Cellar wasn’t the first place we s to ht Maybe she regrets that night Maybe she’d be too embarrassed to sit out here withto know her, as depressing as the topic of her e is

When her eyes lift, there’s a hopelessness in them that she’s kept firh aze, trying to follow

In slow et any work done I should get going" At the door she stops "Good night, Jesse" The tone of her voice is so soft, so sad, and yet so unbelievably sexy, I can’t even form the si to focus because every slight noise hasto the door, I finally pack up and leave

FOURTEEN

Jane Doe

now

A stranger stands before me in the dark, only the outline of his jaw visible He is faceless, naers gliding over his ardless of what my eyes cannot confirm, I know that he is beautiful I find his lips, soft and parted I h the of his breath

Like a cord severed by a swinging axe, our connection breaks, leaving ain," he hisses

That voice belongs to another faceless figure hovering over me

And I know I am about to experience pain like I have never felt before

I bolt upright in bed, the whispered proasp and cough and claw at my throat for air I will s coainst my chest What was that? Just a bad dream?

Orwas that a memory?