And now, I think he might have murdered someone.

Oh, and he just showed up in my car and threatened me.

So, no, not really okay.

How was your day?

“You look like you need one of those too,” Vanessa said, pointing to the glass of red wine on the table in front of her. “Yeah?”

I sighed and nodded. Even though I’d promised myself I wouldn’t drink ever again after Emma’s dinner party, I couldn’t help but say yes.

Vanessa left for a moment, then came back with the glass of wine. She handed it to me and dropped down on the couch beside me.

“Want to talk about it?”

“Would rather just watch TV,” I said.

She nodded. “Done and done.”

She unmuted the television, and we sat there for a while, watching the screen. Earlier, when I’d been at the diner, I’d been grateful that she wasn’t there, because I didn’t know how I could be in the same room with her and not let her know what was going on. But now, all I felt was exhaustion, and I appreciated the comfortable silence.

Three glasses of wine later, I stood up to leave.

“You sure you don’t want to sleep here?” she asked.

“No, I have to go home and take Shelby out. Thanks, though.”

I left, walking past my car and climbing into the DAC that I’d called to take me home. I’d come back for my car in the morning. There was something about leaving it at a place because I was too drunk to drive home that made me feel like I was in my twenties again, and I smiled to myself as the DAC driver moved through the streets.

“How’s your night going?” she asked.

“Not too bad,” I said as I leaned my head back. The car smelled like some sort of strong deodorizer, and I wrinkled my nose. “How about you?”

“Oh, not too bad,” the girl said cheerily. She sounded young—she couldn’t have been more than twenty-two or twenty-three, and she drove with both hands on the steering wheel. I wondered if she had a can of bug spray between her legs and considered telling her that she should, but that felt like it would be the wine talking. She looked up at me in the rearview mirror. “I just started, so I’m going to be driving for a while. You heading home or leaving home?”

I laughed. I tried to imagine who left home at three thirty in the morning. “I’m heading home.”

“Oh, okay, cool! Well, let me know if the AC is cool enough for you.”

“It is, thanks,” I said.