Nothing Less

Chapter Seven.

"I missed you," the words tumble from my mouth and Nora's back straightens up against the wall.

"Where were you going? Where are we?" I ask her after a few seconds of silence pass.

Before she can respond, she tenses. Nora looks over at me, then past me. When I turn around, I spot a guy in a suit walking toward us.

"Ms. Crawford," the man says. He's a massive man, a real life giant.

Okay, maybe not a giant, but he looks huge next to Nora.

"Chase," she smiles. Her smile is weird, as if it's not real. "I'm coming. I was just saying bye to my friend. He helped me get here all the way from Brooklyn. Such a nice guy, he is."  Her eyes dart to his and then back to mine.

I have no idea what's going on.

Nora gives me a small wave and follows behind the man who I assume is the driver she mentioned a few minutes ago on her phone call.

"That's it? You're not going to talk to me after I came all the way here?" I lift my hands in the air.

I stare at Nora's back. She doesn't turn to face me. "I appreciate you coming!" Nora calls to me. She disappears up the staircase and I groan in frustration.

Why the heck did I come here? Now I have to find my way back to Brooklyn at close to midnight. I should have gone after her instead of just standing here and letting her walk away with her bodyguard friend.

Who the heck was that guy anyway? She changed her shirt and took her hair down, why?

Does she have a secret boyfriend here?

Is she a stripper? I don't freaking know.

I scan my stupid card on the stupid reader and push through the stupid turnstile and wait for the stupid subway. When I sit down in my stupid seat, I try to google the route back to my apartment. It's going to take at least an hour and a half.

By the time I'm back on my street, I'm exhausted and frustrated as hell. Why didn't Nora at least talk to me?
My door is locked and I gave Hardin my key when I sent him back to my apartment alone. I knock gently and a few seconds later Hardin opens the door, shirtless and half asleep.

"I thought you were in your room this whole time," he rubs his hands over his eyes.

"I was with Nora." I save the pathetic details for later.

Hardin raises a brow and flops his body back onto the couch. It looks so small with his long body laying on it. His feet hang over the edge. I'm surprised he's on the couch and not in Tessa's room, but I don't have the energy to ask about it and it doesn't look like he does either.

"Goodnight," I tell him and go straight into my room. My head is pounding as I try to sleep.

I wake up ten minutes before my alarm goes off and I have to force myself to get out of bed. I can't believe I slept until eleven. I have to work at noon and get off at four. Not too long of a shift. Six a.m to two is my usual shift on Saturday morning, so today will be a breeze. I hope I work with Posey instead of Aiden.

One can only hope.

Working with Aiden for four hours will feel like four hours, and with Posey, four hours will feel like thirty minutes.

During my shower, I force myself to put on my happy face. I can't mope around work all day. I go through the motions of my morning routine. Shower, lotion, face lotion that Tessa tells me I need. Clothes: a white t-shirt and black jeans. Coffee: black and strong.