Page 102 of Cross Ice

“But?” Danny said.

“But nothing. It went well.”

“Evan.”

“It went well. Better than expected. Nico’s teammates have been solid⁠—”

“I’m not asking about Nico’s day,” Danny said. “I’m asking about yours.”

I dropped my gaze to my burrito.

“Four clients now,” I said. “The last one called me directly. Said my work was excellent but given the March launch, they needed to bring someone else in. ‘We’d love to reconnect afterward,’ she said.” I paused. “We won’t reconnect.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I sent the first revised case study to my web designer this morning. I’m working on a bylined piece—brand resilience, keep it abstract. I’ve got a plan.” I heard myself say it and recognized the flatness in my own voice. “I have a very good plan.”

Danny was quiet for a moment. “Have you told Nico any of this?”

“He’s dealing with his own fallout.”

“He’s also your partner.”

“I know that.”

“Do you?” He said it without heat. “Because what I’m hearing is that you’re managing this alone and showing Nico the plan instead of showing him how it actually feels.”

“I don’t want to be a problem he has to solve.” I pushed a tortilla chip around my plate. “He goes into fix-it mode. If I tell him how bad it is, he’ll try to manage it the same way he manages everything else, and that’s… it’s not what I need.”

“What do you need?”

I didn’t have a clean answer.

“He’s coming over later,” I said.

“Good.” Danny picked up his burrito. “Tell him something honest when he gets here. Not the plan. Something honest.”

Danny left at eight. The apartment felt too quiet without him.

Nico showed up twenty minutes later. Knocked twice. When I opened the door, he walked in, put one hand on the back of my neck, and kissed me—slow and certain. “Hey,” he said against my mouth. He pulled back and looked at my face. “How are you doing?”

“Better than yesterday. Mostly.” Neither thing was entirely true—not the better, not the mostly. I said them anyway, and he let it go.

We sat on the couch, and he angled toward me. “The league response has been solid. Neil’s fielding calls from two brands already, a diversity partnership angle. He says the timing is good.”

I studied him. “Diversity partnership.”

“Yeah.” He heard something in my voice. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” I paused. “It’s just… three days ago I was a person. Now I’m a diversity partnership opportunity.” I said it without accusation. It wasn’t his fault. “I know that’s how Neil talks. I just⁠—”

“That’s not what you are.” Firm, like that settled it. “Rachel says the coverage should start cycling down by Wednesday. New stories will push it back. That’s how these things work.”

He did what he always did—heard me and then moved toward something he could fix. It wasn’t that he didn’t care. I could see the restlessness in him when he couldn’t help, even when he was trying to hide it. And right now, most of what was wrong with me wasn’t something he could help with.

I thought about what Danny had said. Tell him something honest. Not the plan.

“I lost two more clients today,” I said. “Second one called instead of emailing. Said my work was excellent and then let me go anyway.” I looked at him. “I have a good plan for rebuilding the search results and repositioning the firm. I’ve already started executing it.” I took a deep breath. “But I’ve been checking those browser tabs every twenty minutes since nine this morning. I can’t stop, and the plan isn’t touching that part at all.”