Mr Billionaire's Plaything

ne's

my date ton

anging between us like mist over water. I'm aware of the low buzz of conv

is eyes open and earnest, waiting fo

da

me, who's willing to show up and ask for something real. But everything changed the day Dam

nst a tide of grief so quiet, even

me, her tray empty, a curious tilt to

n places I can't name, and not j

s face like sunrise-warm,

a finger, "I'm still

maybe-but he masks it with grace.

ke she's just witnessed the se

for a moment I sway on my feet. I've been dizzy all day, fighting off waves of nausea and fatigue. Maybe it's

s, linking her arm through

dramatic as always. "My pleasu

"See yo

. It's mid-autumn in Boston, the trees on campus blushing orange and cr

ng class,"

on't h

ne. No way you're navigatin

me down with a look that bro

n a date tonight..

't s

e bumps her hip into mine. "Tony's been

," I murmur. "

en three

y. Only

You haven't smiled properly since he g

nd. I'm too l

he club, the music, the heat of unfamiliar hands on my skin. A faceless man who took

silence. "You never t

e at he

'm not pro

nd her. "You're not proud of getting laid two days after a

am

, I'd be on a yacht in Ibiza right now,

e myself. "You

. Thriving. Going on a date

to dinner, n

into the driver's seat as I

nd, I grip the door handle to steady myself. The

is staring at me, all trac

s. My vision tunnels. The parking l

ckn

-

e far off, the scent of antiseptic and cotton s

" a voic

, her expression crumpled with worry

I hea

another voice.

urns slow

he looks like me-except older, and wearier, like some

" she says, hug

.. hap

ted," Pam

ck-Tony, the dizzine

ish earlier. Thought

"Doctor ran some tests. We

heavy now, like everyon

tor walks in with a clipboard in hand, smiling l

wake. Tha

... please. What d

us before clearing his throat. "

stiffens beside me.

, "you're three months pr

xplodes in

ha

all tangled into one. I sit up slo

e mo

e the most important one. I don't even remember his name. Just

ne tighter. My mother cov

e word foreign and too

w it's a lot. We can gi

oc

e fact that your life

staring at the sterile cei

weight of it set

g to be

o idea who t