Chapter 6

Nikita helped her off with the helmet. They were both soaked to the bone, but the coffee in Latisha's arms was miraculously intact.

"What's wrong with these people?" Nikita grumbled, taking the bags from her. "A company this big and they don't even have their own coffee machine?"

She offered Latisha a weak smile. "You wait here, sweetie. I'll be right back."

Latisha nodded and stood under the small awning by the entrance. The rain fell harder, a cold, late-autumn downpour that signaled the coming of winter. She stared out at the curtain of water, her mind drifting.

The day Darby had brought her to the Lambert family, it had been raining just like this. She had hidden timidly behind his legs as a nine-year-old Clifford looked her up and down.

He had asked who she was.

Darby had joked, "I found you a wife. Do you want her?"

The nine-year-old Clifford had scoffed. "I don't want a monkey for a wife."

He was right. Back then, she was scrawny and malnourished, with dull, brittle hair.

She probably looked worse than the monkeys at the zoo.

But later, he had said to her, "If you don't eat more, you'll be too skinny to be my wife."

She knew he was only joking, but every time, she had let herself believe it.

A voice pulled her from her reverie.

"This rain is ridiculous. I'm not staying a minute longer. I'm out of here.”

Yesenia emerged from the building, her heels clicking on the pavement. She turned her head and saw Latisha, drenched and shivering by the door.

"Latisha?"

She was on the phone with Clifford, and he would have heard her say the name. Yesenia glanced back toward the building, then shot a look at Latisha before ending the call. "Are you here for Clifford?"

Latisha shook her head, gesturing that she wasn't.

Yesenia raised an eyebrow and walked toward her, her eyes scanning Latisha from head to toe like an X-ray.

"Clifford always says how innocent you are, but you're not, are you? Soaking yourself like this just to get his attention Yesenia reached out afid pinched a strand of Latisha's wet hair between her fingers."Tsk, it's almost pitiable."

Latisha met her gaze, her lips pressed into a thin line. The rain was cold, and her lips were turning pale. She didn't need Yesenia to tell her what she already knew often the way Clifford looked at her was no different from how he looked at the cat they kept at home. He loved that cat; if he ever forgot to feed it before work, he would turn around and come back.

Liking and loving were two very different things.

Just then, Nikita emerged from the building.

"What's this clucking hen doing here?" she said, stepping in front of Latisha

protectively. "Lost your coop?"

Yesenia's face flushed with anger. "Did you forget to brush your teeth this morning? Who do you think you are, sticking your nose in this?"

Nikita crossed her arms, a smirk playing on her lips. "And what are you? You think you're so high and mighty, picking on someone who can't talk back? Honestly, I've seen anything like it. A

home-wrecking hen, squawking loud

enough for everyone to hear."

"You..." Yesenia was speechless with rage. She hated it when people called her a homewrecker. If it weren't for Latisha, she would be the one married to Clifford!

Accustomed to being pampered by Clifford, Yesenia was not used to being challenged. She raised her hand to slap Nikita.

But Nikita was faster. Before Yesenia's hand could connect, Nikita's palm cracked across her cheek.

"Ah!"

Thrown off balance in her high heels, Yesenia stumbled backward and fell hard onto the wet ground. She clutched her ankle, tears of pain and humiliation welling in her eyes.

The sudden violence stunned even Latisha.

Nikita looked down at her. "You think you can touch me? Go home and have some chicken soup. You are what you eat, after all."

Yesenia glared up at her, her chest heaving with fury.

Nikita took Latisha's hand. "Let's go."

As they turned to leave, Latisha glanced back. Clifford was rushing out of the building. He scooped Yesenia up from the ground, his face a mask of concern that was visible even through the sheets of rain. He didn't even look at Latisha.

Nikita revved the engine, and the motorcycle disappeared into the storm. The rain blurred Latisha's vision, and the towering skyscraper behind them faded into an indistinct silhouette.