Page 288 of Faking the Goal

"Go."

"I am."

"Go be disgustingly happy somewhere else."

Laughing, I push the door open.

"See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah." He waves me off without looking up from his screen.

My phone starts ringing before the door even swings shut behind me.

Assuming it's Kentaro calling to tell me he's almost here, I answer without checking the screen.

"Hey, babe, I'm on my way out."

I put a little extra emphasis on babe, loud enough that Brett can probably hear it through the door and roll his eyes all over again.

There's a pause on the other end.

Then a rough voice says, "Babe?"

Something in the way he repeats it makes me slow.

I pull the phone away from my ear and glance at the screen.

It's Conrad.

A laugh slips out of me as I bring it back up. "Oh, Conrad. Sorry. I thought it was Kentaro calling."

"Oh."

The word lands strangely flat, but only for a second.

"What's up?" I ask, stepping away from the office. "Did you all finally realize how boring the place is without me?"

I pull the door shut and start down the hallway. Kentaro isn't outside yet, but he said he was on his way up, so I figure we'll run into each other somewhere between here and the stairs.

For a few seconds, all I hear is the faint noise of the club behind Conrad—muffled music, voices, something clattering in the distance.

Then his familiar chuckle comes through.

"Yeah. We all miss you."

"Aw. I knew it."

"In fact, that's why I'm calling." His voice loses some of its teasing. "The boss wanted me to ask if you're planning to come back. It's been, what, over two months now?"

My steps slow.

Guilt twists in my stomach.

I haven't been back to the Velvet Lounge since everything with the stalker started getting worse. At first, I told myself I only needed a little time away. Just until things settled down. But the longer I stayed gone, the more obvious it became that going back would be stupid.

"I don't know," I say quietly. "Honestly, I've been thinking about quitting."

"Quitting?"