“Nina,” Beth said, walking in with her head down. She was biting on the end of her pencil, concentrating on her notebook planner. “The meeting with Yawa…Yaw…the Japanese is on Thursday, but the Wellington’s will be in town, and hoped to squeeze in some time.”

“Make time. I’d love to steal them away from Donaldson,” I said tapping a pen against my desk.

“Sounds like it’s a better day,” Grant said, nodding. He bowed out without another word.

“Now it is,” I said, noting Beth’s smile as she stifled a giggle.

“So,” she said, forcing her smile to fade. “Chad’s been asking. Have you heard from Ryan lately? Or at all?”

I no longer had to fight a smile, my face immediately fell. “No. Nothing.”

Beth nodded. “I hope he’s okay.”

“If he wasn’t, we would find out, right?” I said to reassure her.

She took a deep breath, and nodded. “Right. I’ve gotta make some copies. You want coffee?”

“No, thanks.”

Once Beth was off doing other things, Grant returned.

“I actually had a point to coming in here. I needed to talk to you about Beth.”

“Oh?”

Grant flashed his million-dollar smile, and I had to physically restrain myself from recoiling.

“Peanut, I realize she’s your friend, but it’s not exactly cost-efficient to keep her on-board during the school year.”

“Are you suggesting I fire her?” I said, raising an eyebrow.

Grant sighed. “You’re not looking at this objectively. You’re in the office, yes, but technically you’re still an intern until you graduate. Why would I pay someone to assist an intern?”

“Because I told you to.”

After a short pause, Grant smiled, wider than before. “You’re going to do just fine here.”

“Thank you, Grant. That will be all.”

He shook his head, chuckling to himself as he left the way he came.

Buried under a few stacks of documents, Beth brought me back to reality with her chirpy voice. “Time to go home, Nigh.”

“Oh.” I looked at my watch, and then smiled. “Home.”

I haphazardly stuffed a few files into my brief case before rushing down the hall, and then pressed the button. As soon as the doors opened, I hopped inside, fidgeting the entire trip to the first floor. The doors slid open, revealing the brilliant late-afternoon sun gleaming through the lobby glass. Jared was waiting by the Escalade, a contrived smile on his face.

“What is it?” I asked, after greeting him with a quick kiss. My excitement to see him was infiltrated by a sense of dread. The two didn't settle well, and I instantly fell nauseous.

He raised a pair of my sneakers. “I thought we could check out what’s left of the loft. See if anything’s left.”

I could only nod, dreading the sight of our home reduce to a heap of ash.