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Which means the kiss with Lucas rocked me. Because what the fuck.

Every kiss I’ve shared before him has been…uncomfortable, to put it lightly. Not in a get your tongue out of my tonsils kind of way, but in a I have no idea what I’m doing and where do I put my hands and do I keep my eyes open or closed kind of way.

I had none of those thoughts with Lucas.

So when he asks me in so many words if he made me uncomfortable enough to stay away from the office, I want to tell him that couldn’t be further from the truth.

I don’t, of course. Amazing kiss or not, nothing more is going to happen. But I can put his mind at ease.

Lucas,

The only reason I haven’t been in the office this week is because I completed the physical work and am moving on to my digital research. That’s the ONLY reason. As I said before, there’s nothing to apologize for.

Charli

I wonder if he feels relief at my email. Did he feel guilt when he sent his? Or just nerves? I wonder where he is right now, where he’s emailing me from. Is he at home? Dressed in a suit? Or something more casual? I wonder⁠—

I’m snapped out of my suddenly-spiraling thoughts when another email pings on my screen.

Charli,

Ah. Okay, good. I’m glad. Sorry for the random email, just wanted to check in. I’m glad everything is going well. I hope you’re well, too.

Let me know if you need anything.

Lucas

My mouth twitches. I wonder how often Lucas Price is stunned into awkwardness.

I debate sending a response. But I have no idea what I’d say. What even is this conversation? It’s not work-related. And that’s all we are: colleagues.

So I simply flip my screen back to the invoice I was looking at earlier.

But the second it appears, another sneeze starts to tickle my nose.

Maybe I really am allergic to this city.

TWELVE

CHARLI

By the next day, the sneezing is worse. I can’t even get through a document read-through without at least one sneeze.

“What the fuck,” I grumble to myself as I’m hit with another three-part attack. With an exhausted exhale, I stand from the couch and look around my apartment. What is happening right now?

I doubt it’s a cold, because my nose isn’t running. And it can’t actually be allergies, because it’s February.

Maybe something’s in the city air? But what’s in Philadelphia that wasn’t in NYC? It makes no sense. It feels like a constant sensation of pepper in my nose.

Determined to find the culprit, I walk into my kitchen to inspect the vent. The filter isn’t exactly clean, but it’s no worse than what I expected for a rented-out apartment.

I slump against the wall with a sigh.

But it’s from that position that I notice something on the wall below the vent. Is that… Is that dirt?

Squinting, I lean forward and gingerly touch the speck of black. It doesn’t look like dirt, but…

And then I notice the freshly painted bump underneath it. And the stream of bumps underneath that.