Letting out a sigh, Joanna returned to the newspaper, scanning the classifieds for jobs she couldn’t apply for and for dates she didn’t want. Turning the page, she kept skimming the columns until an ad caught her attention. Biting the inside of her cheek, she pondered the consequences. “Do we have a driver today?” Joanna said, raising her eyes.

“Yes, George is here. Why?”

“I’m not sure where this place is,” she said, getting up from the table. “Could you call him, please? Ask him to bring a car around?”

“Um...of course, but where are you going?”

Joanna smiled as she picked up a nearby pen and circled the ad. “Here,” she said, tossing the pen on the table as she headed out of the room. “Please tell him I’ll be down in ten minutes.”

As soon as the kitchen door swung closed, Noah said, “That was a quick mood change. What’d she find?”

“Let me look,” Evelyn said, turning the paper around. Taking a sip of her coffee, it promptly spewed from her mouth when she read the tiny advertisement. “Oh, no!”

***

When Addison had awoken at the Langham on Sunday morning, she had found a note from Luce. It was the first time Luce had ever felt compelled to leave a message, and as Addison sat on the edge of bed reading what Luce had written, a torrent of emotions enveloped her. She was embarrassed she had drunk so much and stunned she had taken the pills. She was grateful Luce just didn’t walk away, but the shame she felt knowing Joanna now knew about Luce was like an anvil on Addison’s chest. She had never before felt so common...or so dirty.

Addison spent Sunday in a trance, sitting alone in her suite and trying her best to make excuses for her actions, but the humiliation she felt was far more painful than the pounding in her head. Every lame excuse was a lie, and she knew it. Refusing to face the truth, she did the only thing she could. She ran.

She spent a week in Spain, her days filled with work and her nights filled with rationalizations, so by the time Addison climbed out of the Rolls and walked up the steps to her home, she was as confident as confident could be. In her mind, her lies had become the truth. She answered to no one. She had no feelings for Joanna. She came and went as she pleased, and if Joanna didn’t like it, that was too damn bad.

Just as Addison reached the door it swung open so quickly, she stumbled back a half-step.

“Welcome home!” Evelyn said in a tone loud enough to wake the dead.

Addison eyeballed Evelyn for a moment before walking inside. “What are you doing here?” she said as she took off her coat. “It’s after eight.”