via

gallery openin

idnight, leaving me with four agonizing hours to kill, and my f

yself. *A final toast to New Y

verse to play such a cr

haotic piece that mirrored exactly how I felt inside-sippi

e air became charged, electric, suck

urn

nd Izzy

as in a tuxedo-why on earth was he in a tuxedo at 8 PM?-and Izz

ows. I tried to will myself int

ivi

sile, locking onto my coordin

rformative gesture, and

ed... a

k turtleneck and jeans. I wasn't dressed for this high-soci

aid. His voice was low,

st leavin

id he might float away. She flashed the ring. It caught the harsh gallery lights and blinded

ant smirk. Her eyes screamed it

ing at the art. His ga

esearch position," he said, igno

," I

ords rushing out a little too fast. "If you need a jo

rying to keep me within arm's reach, like a pet

d a job, Mar

a flash of his old impatience s

ve a

t pl

direc

a weapon. He leaned in, his voice dripping with faux-sympathy. "Rough

tiffened

"Marcus and I were strictly busine

s fli

was the reaction of a man who had just been slapped. I had reduced our

uietly, his voice barely audible ove

y despite the trembling in my hands.

ltered, crackin

sharp and brittle. "We sho

his arm, har

, with a confusion I had never seen before. He reached out, as if to

pped

pped to his

, Marcus

id. "Hope you find... whatev

ed and wa

ld spend my life with. But he was walking away with a woman he didn't lov

ked my