“No, that’s okay. I will meet you there. I aming straight from work.”


    “Sounds fun.” She smiles. “See you then.” I hang up. She’s going to freak when I tell her what’s going


    on, and it’s going to go one of two ways. She’s either going to freak and run, or she’s going to embrace the


    weirdness of this whole fiasco and be my bridesmaid on Saturday. I’m telling her everything.


    I have to. She’s my life-long best friend.


    Twenty minutes and a million regretster, I walk back into the office like I’m walking into prison.


    This was a stupid idea and I have no doubt that I am about to be arrested.


    Hell. What was I thinking? You can’t just waltz into your office with stolen artwork and pretend it was


    dumped  at  your  door.  The  only  good  thing  is  that  I  know  my  building  doesn’t  have  security  cameras


    because they have been petitioning to get them.


    I knock on Mark’s door as I juggle our coffees in my hands.


    “Come in!” he calls.


    I walk in, trying not to act too nervous, and he is sitting back, swiveling on his chair whilst holding a


    pen, his knowing eyes holding mine.


    “The three bags of samples you found.”


    I swallow. “Yes.”


    “Is the stolen artwork…”


    “Oh… what?” An intelligent reply escapes me. Gosh, I really need Brielle here with her fast thinking,


    bullshit ways.


    “But you already know that, don’t you?” He raises an eyebrow in question.


    I drop my eyes to the floor. I’m not lying to him. I’m not being that sneaky person ever again.


    My eyes meet his. “I had my suspicions,” I whisper.


    “Who did this?” he asks.


    I drop my eyes back to the floor. Fuck. What do I say?


    “Star?” he asks. My eyes meet his.


    “Did Star do this? He is the only person around you that knows art like this.”


    “He’s not a thief,” I whisper.


    Marks eyes hold mine. “That’s not true. He stole you from me.”


    I swallow nervously. “I wasn’t yours to steal, Mark.”


    “You could have been,” he whispers. I stare at him through blurred vision, and for an extended time,


    we stay still as if grieving the friendship that we once had.


    I finally drag my eyes from his and he stands and looks out his window with his hands in his pockets.


    “Hand your resignation in immediately.” I stare at his back, unsure what to say next.


    “Hand it in now and I will tell them the art has turned up from an unknown source.” I swallow the


    sandy feeling in my throat. “Why would you do that?” I whisper.


    He turns and faces me. “For you, Emerson. Not him. You will be implicated in all of this and you


    know it. I can’t believe he would involve you.”


    “Mark,” I whisper.


    “And because, unlike you, my friendship was real,” he sneers.


    I frown as my irritation rises. “Mark.” How do I say this? “Stop making yourself out to be the hero


    here. You were sleeping with Stephanie all along. You didn’t have my best interests at heart, either, so


    stop pretending that you did.”


    His eyes hold mine.


    I close my eyes as regret fills me, knowing that wasn’t needed.


    “We were never going to work out,” I whisper. “I’m sorry.”


    His eyes hold mine for an extended time. “Not as sorry as I am,” he murmurs.


    I hesitate, and for the first time since arriving in London, I want to do something foreign. I want to hug


    him… but I wont.


    “Goodbye.” I smile softly through tears and I head toward the door.


    “Emerson?”Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g


    I turn back. “Yes?”


    “He’s not good enough for you.”


    My eyes meet his. “You are wrong, Mark. I’m not good enough for him.” I turn and without further


    words, walk back to my office. I slowly pack up my desk before my colleagues arrive for the day and as I


    walk through the front doors and out into the London street, I say goodbye to my old life.


    I sit nervously at a table in the restaurant as I wait for Brielle. star will be back in two hours and I


    know  she  will  probably  be  long  gone  by  then.  She  won’t  understand  this.  Hell…  I  know  I  wouldn’t.


    Finally, shees into view and takes a seat at the table.


    “Hey, babe.” She smiles as she grabs my hand.


    “Hi.”


    She opens the menu straight up. “I am fucking starving. What are we eating?”


    I watch her for a moment as she peruses the menu. What do I say to her?


    What possible words coulde out of my mouth to make this sound logical? Juste out with it.


    “I have something to tell you.”