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“I don’t think so. But I also never thought she’d give up. She sounded so defeated on the phone. I got worried today, so I called the building manager. He lives on the bottom floor and he said he hasn’t seen her coming and going like he normally does. Derek, I don’t know what to do.”
He couldn’t even imagine Nara in such a depression. It broke his heart. “I’ll go check on her.” The words flew out without him thinking about it.
“You’d do that?”
In a heartbeat. He grabbed his briefcase and began shoving files in. “Of course.”
“I’ll call the jet service. I’ll book a fight tonight.”
“Thanks,” he said, already out the door. “I’ll go pack.”
* * *
Nara moaned and rolled over, the haze of sleep still shrouding her. Had there been a noise that woke her? She listened as she lay on her couch, her thick bedspread and all the blankets she owned over her. No other sounds came. Whatever it had been, it was silent now.
She shivered, despite the weight of the blankets. It was so cold in her apartment, but she had to conserve her money, so she’d turned down the heat. It wasn’t too bad when she was up and around, but lately she’d lost all interest in doing anything. Her life sucked. Period.
To be honest, she wasn’t even sure what day it was. The sink was a pile of dirty dishes. She didn’t even know when the last time she’d eaten was. All she knew was that she was never going to know the joy of seeing her designs in the store, at least, with her name on them.
A bitter taste flowed into her mouth, and she swallowed it back. She’d done more research on her designs. Chelsea had been busy. She’d found fifteen more of her designs that were now copyrighted to various subsidiary design companies.
She was such an idiot. She thought if she gave her ideas to Chelsea, that her boss would hire her as a designer. But why would she do that if she could get the designs for the small price of a personal assistant? Nara had been so willing to just give them to her. Over, and over, apparently.
Someone buzzed her door and she groaned and pulled her blanket over her head. Was that the noise that had awakened her? “Go away,” she mumbled, even though the person couldn’t hear her. She never had anyone come over. It must be a salesperson.
The buzzer rang again, this time for longer. Nara closed her eyes, ignoring it. They’d go away eventually. And she was right. After a few more lame attempts to get her off the couch the person gave up.
Good. She didn’t need anything. She didn’t have money for anything. And she certainly didn’t want to see anyone. Not with her not-been-washed-in-several-days hair and her ratty t-shirt she’d owned since she was fifteen. No one should see her in her comfort clothes.
She’d finished her last Diet Coke on Tuesday. The last empty bottles still sat on her coffee table, along with an empty potato chip bag, two boxes of cereal, and the wrappers from six cake rolls she’d eaten. Did she mention her life sucked?
She closed her eyes. Was it time to go to bed? It felt late. The room had darkened hours ago. She probably should make her nightly move from the couch to the bed, but she lacked the energy.
Wait.
What time was it? She picked up her cell and tried to read the clock through her blurry eyes. Two o’clock in the morning? Who had been buzzing her apartment at this time of night? Now she was really glad in her dazed state she hadn’t let them in. It was probably a drunk.
She snuggled back into the covers and closed her eyes. Sleep was calling to her. That’s all she’d felt like doing the last few days.
Somewhere in her foggy state she thought she heard knocking. But that was stupid. Who would be knocking on her door? She drifted off to sleep.
The knocking continued, and she realized it must be a dream. An annoying dream. The knocking should stop. It was giving her a headache.
“Nara,” a voice called. “Let me in.”
She moaned. Now she was dreaming that Derek was at her door. Just great. That’s what she needed. More dreams about Derek. Didn’t she have a sucky enough life? Now she had to dream Derek was in New York.
Actually, that dream might be nice.
“Nara, are you in there?” More knocking, louder this time. “Open the door.”
Maybe she should open the door. It might be a good dream. She tried to sit up, but had a very difficult time working her muscles. Probably because she hadn’t eaten. Stupid muscles. She tried again, this time crawling toward the door.
It took forever to get there, but she finally managed to do it. Pulling herself up, she flipped the lock and turned the handle. Derek came bursting into the room. “Nara,” he said, pulling her into his arms.
She couldn’t hold her head upright. This was a strange dream. But it felt wonderful to be back in Derek’s arms, and she closed her eyes and let him carry her.
“Geez, Nara, you’re freezing.”
