Anger vibrated through me as I stood frozen at the window. Elis’s shadowy black form disappeared into the night two dozen floors below me.

I gulped down the rest of my glass and then swiped for his at the table, downing that in one motion. The warm liquid loosened my aching body, and I was ready to collapse into bed and forget this day. My life. Him.

Everybody.

“Play The Nutcracker Suite,” I called out to the smart music system, comforted when the soft strains of the opening melody seeped into my body.

I remembered countless nights practicing this music on our baby grand piano in the entry. Mom always slammed the door as soon as we started playing, but those were some of my best memories with my dad. The long hours he worked left him hardly at home. Many nights I’d find him with his head bent over papers long after midnight, but as soon as my fingers stroked the keys, he stopped whatever he was doing to play with me.

Fresh tears blanketed my cheeks as I searched the sidewalk around Central Park, desperate for the freedom that Elis must feel. I’d never felt free enough to walk the streets all hours of the night. My life was too scheduled, and my reputation too precious, according to my mother. I only had time for studies, lessons, and charitable events.

I wondered about the thrill Elis must feel when he tagged a blank wall for the first time, the charge of adrenaline as he broke the law. I respected his crimes in a weird way. A lot of anti-establishment hipsters did because he made a statement without hurting anyone.

I had trouble figuring out why Elis was so bitter. I shook my head, cleaning up the wine glasses before heading to my bedroom at the back of the long hallway.

I brushed my teeth, my anger beginning to boil over as I thought about all the prejudices he held against me.

I’d said goodbye to the only man—possibly the only human—to show me unconditional love, and I had to go and fight with Elis fucking Brooks? I grew so annoyed with his presumptions that if I wasn’t already stripping out of my dress, I might be crazy enough—and exhausted enough—to run after him to give him a further piece of my mind.

Elis Brooks didn’t know shit about me anymore. I just wished I could kick him out of the real estate in my head.

***

“Ms. Price.” My professor nodded somberly the next morning as I stepped into my lecture approximately ten seconds before class started. “I’m sorry to hear about your father. The wake was beautiful.”