Even with my back turned, I felt the energy in the room shift.
“Adriana.” Marco exhaled, his large frame taking up the doorway.
I looked between the two and bit back a smile. “I’m going to get you a snack.” I picked up my purse and went to the door, but Marco didn’t move. “Uh, Marco?”
He startled and stared down at me like I appeared out of thin air. “Sasha?” Shaking his head, he stepped into the room, leaving enough space for me to slip by him.
“Are you okay?” Marco’s deep voice was rough, and it took everything in me to walk away from the show. Their relationship had been undefined and low-key, but anyone with eyes could see that Marco wanted more.
I found a small room full of vending machines and a television playing in the corner. As I bought a little bit of everything, the five o’clock news started.
“Good evening, St. Louis. Tonight, we have an interview with the mayor-elect and her ideas for revitalizing the city without sacrificing our history.”
I rolled my eyes.
Beth.
She’d always talked about wanting to run for office. It was one of the many reasons she disagreed with my dancing and political activities. The weird part was hearing that she’d done it made all those old feelings of inadequacy pop back up. Beth was a few years younger than me but poised and positioned to take office younger than her mom ever did. The reason she hadn’t run years before was me, and she never let me forget it.
I grabbed the coke from the bottom of the machine as Beth’s voice filled the small space. “Thank you for having me, Mandy.” Leaning against the warm plastic, I cracked open the can as my beautiful ex delivered talking point after talking point, zoning out until her words were no more intelligible than the parents in a Peanuts cartoon.
“There have been calls from some of the community to stop the opening of yet another casino on the river. Any comment on the renovation and future reopening of The Palace?”
I shoved off the soda machine, dread souring the sweet drink on my tongue.
Beth smiled brilliantly, the same “gotcha” smile she’d give me when I’d argue myself into a corner. “We’re a long way from the doors opening. There’s a lot to consider.”
My jaw ached from clenching it so tightly. Like hell they’d stop the doors from opening.
They went on to discuss St. Louis’s annual fourth of July celebration and the changes coming to this year’s festivities, but I checked out. Suddenly, not only was my personal life under attack, but so was my professional life.
In a daze, I carried the armful of treats to Adriana.
“Where’d Marco go?” I dropped the bags on the tan mobile table next to her bed.
She sniffled. “He left.”
“Why?” I looked around the room, shaking my head in confusion.
“I told him to leave.” She swallowed hard, her hands ringing in her lap.
Gently, I sat down and laid a hand over hers. “Why would you do that?”
Adriana’s cheek twitched, and her glossy eyes rolled to the ceiling. “It’s all too much with him. It always has been.”
I stayed silent, allowing her to fill in the gaps if she wanted.
“He loves me.” Her red-rimmed eyes turned to me, the lines on her face deepening. “And I don’t know if I can match his feelings. I never could.” She shook off my hands and pushed back her hair. “He says he doesn’t care and that he’ll take me any way he can have me, but that’s not fair. That’s not what I want for him or me. He deserves to be someone’s first choice.”
I frowned, grabbing a bag of peanut M&Ms. “And that could never be you?” I fussed with the edges of the pack.
Without a moment of hesitation, she answered, “No.”
I pointed the open candy to her, and she shook her head, so I popped two M&Ms in my mouth and leaned back in the chair. My eyes wandered to the muted TV in the corner. Beth wasn’t on screen anymore. Instead, there was an info-graph about the city’s police budget.
“I wish I could.” Adriana’s voice came out in a whisper.
“So, what are you going to do?”