She set her heavy black bag on the corner of my bedside table, right next to my water pitcher.
“We should leave you to rest,” Adrian said, finally turning from the window and checking his watch. “The board is waiting for the three o’clock call.”
He did not kiss my cheek, and he did not touch the babies before he walked out, Celeste following him with her head held high.
I sat in the silence of the room for more than an hour, the image of that stiff black leather bag lingering in my mind like a stain.
At half past three, Adrian returned alone, his tie loosened, the blue folder held tightly under his left arm.
He did not sit in the armchair, choosing instead to stand over the bed, casting a long shadow across my lap.
“I need you to sign this insurance waiver,” he said, dropping the blue folder onto the mattress near my knees. “It is just the supplementary coverage for the private suite.”
“I told you, Adrian,” I said, pushing the folder back toward him with one finger. “I am not signing anything until I have my glasses and my father’s attorney looks over the details.”
