Chapter 13: Home Early

I shoved the cracked phone under the pillow before Keith had finished pulling his sweater on.

It was inside out.

"Your tag," I whispered.

He yanked the sweater off again and turned it, and his hands were shaking.

"Open up!" Vera sang. "Don't make me use the key!"

"One second," Keith called. His voice came out almost normal.

I smoothed my shirt and found a button undone and fixed it.

My mouth felt swollen, and there was no mirror to tell me how bad it looked.

Keith took one breath and opened the door.

Vera stood in the hall in a cream coat with her arms wide.

Behind her came the director, two camera operators and a boom pole, all of them already pointed at us.

"Surprise," she said.

She walked straight past me and put both arms around Keith's neck.

"I missed you so much I couldn't wait for Friday," she said into his shoulder. "I told the producer, I'm going home to my husband."

Keith held her.

I watched his hands settle on her back, slowly, as if he were checking that they still knew how.

Over her shoulder his eyes found mine for half a second.

A camera moved in to catch that look, and I turned my face away.

"Who's your friend?" Vera asked.

She had let go of him and was looking at me, up and down, with her head tilted.

"You know who I am," I said.

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