Page 33 of The Comedown

“A while.”

“Collette?”

My hands holding the dish towel freeze.

“Was that blanket… Did you do that?”

Slowly, I turn around, leaning back against the counter to consider Julian.

“And the pillow? That was you, too?”

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t lift you by myself,” I explain.

“You’re sorry?”

I nod. If I woke up on the floor, I wouldn’t be happy either. My back would be even less happy, but I’m older than Julian. Also, my back hates me, has ever since I birthed an eight-pound, ten-ounce baby. My dance routines help keep me limber, but my spine still gives me pushback every now and then, especially after a rough night’s sleep.

“I don’t know how I ended up in here.” His head jerks back. “But, uh…”

“I should’ve called Bare,” I admit. I had the bodyguard’s number all along and I didn’t use it. It’s just that…I was never worried about Julian stealing. I was worried he wouldn’t wake up, and I didn’t want him out of my sight until I was sure he would.

“Bare? No, Collette, I’m trying to thank you.”

“Thank me?”

“Yeah. I can’t remember the last time I woke up with a blanket and a pillow.”

That doesn’t sound right. Is he high still?

“What about when you stay in a hotel?”

Julian and I regard one another for a long time, then he scoots forward, his hand up to his mouth. Behind it, he asks, “Do you want anything?” It sounds like the ring on his thumb is between his lips when he says it.

“Do I want anything?”

“Yeah. Like reimbursement or whatever.”

“For?”

“Crashing here. You probably had better things to do than—”

“Julian?”

His hand drops to his lap, and I see him hastily spinning the thumb ring with the tip of his pointer finger.

“Yeah?”

“What do you want on your sandwich?”

He glances behind me, swallowing.

“Whatever you’re havin’.”

“Okay.”

I turn back around, my eyes on everything in front of me without really seeing any of it. He wants to pay me? He thinks I deserve compensation for loaning him a spot on a floor to sleep, along with a pillow and a blanket for a few hours?

What kind of reality is he living in?