Chapter 143

Kira

To my surprise, he hands the receipt back without a word. He doesn’t admonish me for having it. He doesn’t even look at me. It’s like he knows, a shadow crossing his features as his eyes furrow together.

He turns back to his desk and sits down, his back to me. He reaches for the unopened bottle at the end of the desk and holds it. “You thought I fell off track.”

“I’m… I mean yes. I did.”

“And you came here?”

“Yes.”

“Because…” I don’t answer. But he just waits, not supplying any rescue.

I swallow and try again. “Because I didn’t want you to be alone. I get what… I get what it’s like. To be in that place. And I went there so many times… I mean, I’ve been there so many times. And sometimes I hated myself for doing it. And sometimes I hated life so much I just didn’t want to remember anymore.”

He puts the bottle down, a soft thud echoing on his desk. I can tell he’s still listening. “So you came here because you thought I hated myself?”

I lick my lips, my throat dry. “No, it’s just.