He snatched it up, and got back into the elevator, noticing Pretzel watching with interest as he waited for the doors to close, ignoring her food. He wondered idly if she’d been using it for one of her jaunts, but then dismissed the thought, feeling like an idiot. While Ward loved the fact that he could just jump on and off directly through to his place and it kept him from having to interact with other residents, cats couldn’t push buttons, could they?

He recognized that everyone else thought he was aloof and he had a reputation as a bit of a curmudgeon, which he didn’t do anything to dismantle because it ensured his privacy. That had been a saving grace, in recent days, especially when the media had been throwing him around like a tidal wave. Freshly impatient even as the car made its descent, he stabbed again at the L button for the lobby, one of only three on the panel – L, P for Penthouse, and E for Emergency.

Feeling fidgety he glanced at the note, opening it up and scanning it as he waited. He didn’t have time for this now but was always curious as to what his neighbour had to say.

While he’d been initially peeved at the idea of a celebrity influencer moving in next door, especially one who seemed to court the media attention he himself detested, he’d gradually come to enjoy their interactions, and also grudgingly come to the conclusion that the girl next door wasn’t such an airhead after all.

The kid was nice actually, and Ward had been grateful that she seemed equally happy to keep things anonymous. Despite his initial suspicions, he soon discovered they had much more in common than he’d thought. Intrigued by some of her earlier correspondence and attempts to win him over, he’d looked up her socials and found that she was actually quite cool, into financial stuff like himself and not just some vacuous poser.

Like Hannah always said, appearances could often be deceptive.

As he scanned through the page, his eyes widened when Courtney mentioned something about leaving. It couldn’t be because of him, could it? Had she seen or heard something about the fight with Kendrick maybe, and become spooked about having him as a neighbour after all?

Then Ward stood frozen, as he zeroed on some of P-2’s other words.

And alarm bells exploded in his head.

A place to stay . . . romantically involved with a client . . . idiot ex . . . stalking . . . big event . . . a fight in front of all of the cameras . . . current (now former) client . . .

He felt himself breathing faster as suddenly rapt, he pored over every last line. Until he came to the biggest bombshell of all.

I’m leaving because I messed up – again. I’ve fallen in love with someone else I shouldn’t have.

Time stood still.