Chapter 4

The farewell party was for an old university friend, Sarah, who was moving to London. It was at a crowded bar in Dupont Circle, the kind of place I hadn' t been to in years. Molly had insisted I come. "You need to celebrate your residency," she' d said. "And you need to be seen."

I was talking to Sarah near the bar when Matthew walked in.

And he wasn' t alone. Gabrielle was with him, clinging to his arm.

He saw me immediately. A flicker of panic crossed his face before he composed himself. He guided Gabrielle toward our group.

"Stella! Hey," he said, a little too loudly. "Funny running into you here. Gabrielle and I were just grabbing a drink after a late-night session."

Gabrielle gave me a tight, practiced smile. "Hi, Stella. So nice to see you out." The implication was clear: it was a rare sighting, like a zoo animal escaping its enclosure.

Before I could respond, Sarah, who was a few drinks in and blissfully unaware of the tension, threw her arm around my shoulders.

"Everyone! A toast!" she announced, raising her glass. "To my brilliant friend, Stella! She' s been hiding her light under a bushel, but she just got accepted to the Blackwood residency in Vermont! She' s leaving D.C. to finally finish her novel!"

The small group erupted in cheers.

I watched Matthew' s face. The charming political strategist mask crumbled. He looked stunned, then his expression hardened into pure fury. He looked like I had personally betrayed him in the most public way possible.

He grabbed my arm, his grip surprisingly tight, and pulled me into the noisy hallway.

"A residency? In Vermont? What the hell is she talking about?" he hissed, his voice low and dangerous. "You' re leaving? Why didn' t you tell me?"

"I was going to," I said calmly, pulling my arm from his grasp.

"When? On your way to the airport?"

Just then, the door to the bar swung open and Gabrielle stumbled out. She was clearly drunk. She saw Matthew and her face crumpled.

"Matt," she slurred, clinging to his tuxedo jacket. "I don' t feel so good. Can you take me home?"

Matthew was frozen, caught between us. He looked at me, a desperate plea in his eyes. "Stella, just wait. Let me just... wait one second."

I looked at Gabrielle, clinging to him like a life raft. Then I looked back at him, the man I had given up my dreams for, the man who was now torn between his partner and his protégé.

I gave him a small, sad smile.

"She needs you more," I said.

And I turned and walked away, leaving him in the hallway with her. I didn' t look back to see which choice he made. I already knew. He would stay and take care of Gabrielle. He always did.