Chapter 2 An Ill-Timed Courtship Party

The next day, Eloisa pulled the strings of her oversized gray hoodie tight. The fabric swallowed her frame, hiding a stomach that was still perfectly flat. She kept her head down, her sneakers hitting the concrete path of the campus quad at a fast, desperate pace.

She just needed to get to the clinic.

"Eloisa!"

A body stepped directly into her path. Eloisa gasped and stumbled back, Her arms instinctively crossed over her stomach in a tight, defensive shield.

It was Isla. Her roommate was grinning, holding two iced coffees.

"Oh my god, you finally left the cave!" Isla laughed. "I was just coming to find you!"

Eloisa forced her arms down to her sides, her heart hammered against her ribs.

"I'm just going to the library," Eloisa lied. Her voice sounded thin and reedy.

Isla rolled her eyes. "Stop faking. Kurtis Branch has a massive surprise waiting for you."

Eloisa's brow furrowed. Kurtis, he was a linebacker on the college football team. He had been aggressively pursuing her for three months, and she found his loud, performative personality exhausting.

Before Eloisa could tell Isla she didn't care, a roar of cheers erupted from the fraternity lawn fifty yards ahead.

Eloisa looked up.

Kurtis Branch was standing in the middle of the grass. He was surrounded by a dozen massive, metallic red heart balloons. Above his head, a small drone buzzed angrily in the air, dragging a white vinyl banner.

The banner read: ELOISA, BE MY GF!

A crowd of at least fifty students had already formed a circle. They had their phones out. They were cheering and whistling.

Kurtis spotted her. He grabbed a massive bouquet of red roses from a frat brother. He was wearing a custom t-shirt with a picture of his own face printed on it. He started marching toward her.

As he got closer, the smell hit her.

It was a thick, suffocating cloud of cheap body spray. It smelled like synthetic pine needles and rubbing alcohol.

The smell acted like a physical switch inside Eloisa's body.

The nausea she had been fighting all morning exploded. Her stomach violently contracted. The color drained from her face so fast she felt dizzy.

Kurtis dropped to one knee right in front of her. He flashed a practiced, arrogant smile.

"Eloisa, from the first second I saw you..."

Eloisa couldn't hear the rest of his sentence. The blood was rushing in her ears. She slapped both hands over her mouth. She tried to swallow down the thick, bitter bile rising in her throat.

Kurtis stopped talking. He looked at her hands over her mouth. His smile grew wider. He thought she was crying. He thought she was overwhelmed with joy.

"Say yes! Say yes!" the crowd started chanting.

Eloisa's chest heaved. She couldn't hold it back anymore.

She violently shoved Kurtis backward. He fell onto the grass. Eloisa sprinted three steps to a nearby metal trash can, leaned over the edge, and threw up.

She retched loudly, her body shaking with the force of it.

The chanting stopped instantly. The entire quad fell into a dead, horrifying silence. The only sound was the wet, humiliating noise of Eloisa vomiting into the garbage.

Kurtis scrambled to his feet. His face went from bright red to a furious, dark purple. He looked around at the students filming him.

"Are you... are you serious right now?" Kurtis yelled. He threw the bouquet of roses onto the concrete. "You're a freak!"

He turned and stormed away, pushing through the crowd.

A wave of cruel laughter rippled through the students. They pointed their phones at her.

Eloisa gripped the rim of the trash can. Black spots danced in her vision. She wiped her mouth with the back of her trembling hand. She had just become the biggest joke on campus.

Isla took a hesitant step toward her.

Eloisa held up a weak hand. "Don't. Just... leave me alone."

Before Isla could say another word, a massive shadow fell over them.

A black Lincoln Navigator rolled silently to a stop right next to the curb. There were no license plates on the front. The windows were tinted so dark they looked like solid obsidian.

The rear door clicked open.

An older man stepped out. He wore a perfectly tailored charcoal suit. His hair was silver, and he wore crisp white cotton gloves. Two massive men in identical black suits and sunglasses stepped out behind him. They looked like secret service agents.

The older man walked straight to Eloisa. He did not look at the vomit. He did not look at the crowd. He stopped two feet away and offered a slight, formal bow.

"Miss Eloisa Williams?" his voice was smooth, flat, and completely devoid of emotion. "We have been expecting you."

Eloisa's spine stiffened. The nausea was instantly replaced by a cold spike of adrenaline.

"Who are you?" she asked, taking a step back.

The man reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a heavy, cream-colored card. He held it out to her.

Eloisa took it. There was only one word printed in embossed black ink in the center.

Wilkinson.

Beneath it was a phone number.

"My employer wishes to speak with you," the man said. He gestured toward the open door of the SUV. "Please get in the car."

It was not a request. It was a command.