In the afternoon, Evelyn's phone buzzed with a message from Michael. It was characteristically blunt: "Compensate me. Come to my place tonight."
"Why don't I just buy you a gift instead?" she typed back, trying to squabble.
"Don't try to change my decision," came the immediate reply.
Evelyn sighed, leaning back in her executive chair. "I see." She was reluctant, but after the hospital scare and the "incurable disease" joke, she felt a strange pull toward him that she couldn't quite fight.
At Bay Spring Villa, after the storm of their reunion had finally calmed into a heavy, comfortable silence.
"Don't go back tonight," Michael murmured, his eyes soft as he watched Evelyn drift toward sleep in the oversized master bed.
She shifted, her voice muffled by the pillow. "No! If I don't go home, my brothers will kill me!" She was finally catching her breath, and the last thing she wanted was another round of "compensation."
