“Where is he?” she asked. “I have to find him.”

Martha waved her hand over the crowded bottom floor. “John’s around here somewhere,” she said. “Good luck finding him in all these masks.”

Victoria spun around and searched through the partygoers and their masks for a familiar body. Her heart pounded in her chest at the prospect of being close to him but not picking him out in a crowd. He could be anywhere.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Eight

She came back to him.

John saw her as he descended the stairs from the Children’s Department. It had to be her. Her braids swung from a black knitted cap, still adorned with the same gold cuffs and cowry shells. Victoria wore a black and white horizontally striped shirt and black pants. A simple black mask covered her eyes, but he recognized the bottom portion of her face right away. He remembered those lips, the curve of her neck, the slope of her shoulders, the flair of her hips.

She was dressed as a thief.

John would have laughed if his heart didn’t ache from the very sight of her. As he ran down the stairs, he could tell she was looking for him. Behind her mask, she searched the melee for a sign of him. At the foot of the stairwell, he pushed back the edge of his cape and walked towards her, but there were too many people in his way. Before he could reach her, she left the checkout counter where Martha sat reading.

“Victoria,” he called out.

She didn’t hear him.

Slowly pushing herself through the crush of people, Victoria made her way behind the checkout desk, towards his office. He blew out a sigh of relief as he followed her.

Something was different about his office. As Victoria closed the door behind her and surveyed her surroundings, the abrupt change made her smile.

John’s desk was spotless.

Gone were the empty coffee cups and random stacks of loose paper. All that was left were framed photos, his computer, and a brand new desk calendar. Perhaps the desk calendar had always been there, but the mass of trash hid it. She slowly approached the desk, hesitant to disturb the perfection. A soft chuckle escaped her chest as she took it all in. He made an effort to keep some order in his life.