I've Died Here Before novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: Tea With Giselle

Giselle offers money to leave New York while Addie records her; then Holden walks in and takes Giselle's hand.

The tea room at Hotel Courtland had white tablecloths, a harpist, and forty guests who all pretended not to know my face.

I knew they did.

The video had passed a million views overnight.

Hattie sat two tables away in her puffy jacket, eating scones loudly and watching the door.

My phone lay in my coat pocket with the voice memo already running.

"Sit up," the voice said. "Smile."

"She tried to have me killed."

"She tried to have you killed, and she doesn't know you know. So be the girl from the video. Be the hopeless one. Let her enjoy it."

"You really hate that word."

"I've earned it."

Giselle came in at three exactly, in a cream suit, with the thin gold watch on her wrist.

She kissed the air next to my cheek.

"Addie. You came. I was afraid you wouldn't."

"I'd never turn down free tea," I said.

She laughed, a pretty, easy laugh.

The waiter poured, and she waited until he had gone.

"I owe you an apology," she said. "Thursday night was unkind. Holden can be careless with people."

"He's not careless. He's an ass."

"Perhaps." She slid a slim white envelope across the cloth. "He asked me to make this easy."

I opened it.

It was a cashier's check for two hundred thousand dollars, made out to me.

"Holden asked you," I said.

"Of course."

"He told me never to go near you."

For one second, Giselle's smile stayed exactly where it was while her eyes did something else.

"Men say all kinds of things at one in the morning."

I hadn't told her it was one in the morning.

"Keep her talking," the voice said sharply.

"Two hundred thousand is a lot," I said, and I let my voice get small and silly. "What's it for?"

"A fresh start. Somewhere warm. Somewhere with no water views, ideally." She smiled at her own joke. "A girl like you needs to be looked after, and Holden has decided he can't."

"And you can."

"I can see what's good for him."

"And what's that?"

"Me," said Giselle. "Holden will be mine by Christmas. A girl who understands money knows when to take it and go."

Under the table, my thumb pressed the pocket where the phone sat.

"Say that again," I said, and I giggled. "I want to remember how it felt."

Hattie coughed so hard that a woman at the next table turned around.

"Holden will be mine by Christmas," Giselle said, patiently, to the spoiled girl who couldn't follow.

"And I should take the check and leave town."

"And not come back. Yes."

"Would it be okay if I asked one more thing?"

"Anything."

"You said Thursday night was unkind. Which part?"

"The restaurant."

"Not the pier?"

Giselle's cup stopped halfway to her mouth.

I smiled at her, wide and stupid.

"Dean's note had a picture," I said. "From the end of the pier. At 8:38. That was kind of him."

She set the cup in the saucer without a sound.

"My brother worries about me," she said. "He checks the ferry cameras whenever I'm nervous. He must have seen you walking."

"Did he see me alone?"

"I wouldn't know."

"He walked behind me."

"People walk behind each other all the time, Addie."

"In a gray coat."

The harpist played three more notes.

Giselle lifted her watch to her face, which was the only mistake I saw her make.

"You should take the money," she said, very softly, "and stay somewhere with no water."

It was the first honest thing she'd said, and I was already shaking from it.

"You hear that?" I whispered under my breath.

"I hear it," the voice whispered back. "Don't pick up the cup. Your hand will shake."

"I'm going to think about it," I said aloud.

"Think quickly. I'm not patient."

"Can I keep the check while I think?"

"Keep it."

I slid it into my pocket next to the phone.

Giselle stood, and the room watched her do it.

Then the tea room doors opened, and the harpist stopped in the middle of a chord.

Holden walked in.

He wore a black suit and no coat, and he looked straight at our table.

He didn't look at me.

He walked around the table, pulled out the chair next to Giselle, and sat.

Then, in front of forty guests, a harpist and my best friend with a scone in her mouth, he took Giselle's hand and held it on the tablecloth.

"Addie," he said. His voice was flat. "Giselle and I are together. Take the check and don't make me say it twice."

Giselle laced her fingers through his.

She was smiling at me again, kind and warm.

"Go on, darling," she said. "Everyone is watching."

← Chapter 2 · All chapters · Chapter 4 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend