The scent of freshly made waffles pulled Brianna out of her monster-like slumber. She forced her eyes open before she would drool on her bed when the harsh light from drawn curtains almost blinded her.
Shutting her eyes tight, Brianna tried turning her head, but the pain from her neck said otherwise and she winced from the motion, returning her head to the original position.
"You’re up!"
Groaning, she tried again and found Rochelle standing near her window, all dressed up neatly and grinning widely.
"What the eff?"
"Good morning to you too, Mrs. Colburn—I an, Miss Brianna."
Brianna sighed. "Just call Mrs. Colburn."
It wasn’t like she was losing the title anyti soon.
Brianna fought the urge to ask ’what’s good about the mornin?’ but she knew better cause it’d actually lead to an unending explanation from Rochelle about what was actually good about the morning.
Which always led back to work. This whole thing was about work.
"Anyway, I’ve ran your bathe for you. All you have to do is shower, then," she walked over and opened the covered tray on her nightstand. "You can have breakfast before we leave. Though, that would make us late. But Rosa said you slept hungry last night. And—"
Brianna cut her off. "What is all this?"
"I’m taking care of you, Mrs. Colburn." She said apathetically.
Brianna sat up on her bed, rubbing her neck absentmindedly. "Of course. Because I’ve gone back in ti to when I was a child."
"Wouldn’t that be a great ti to return to?"
"I’d rather go two days back, before the fall."
The room went silent.
A las, they’d addressed the elephant in the room. The elephant refused to stop strangling Brianna.
"Technically, you can’t go back in ti. So..."
"Why aren’t you scared of ? Don’t you also think I intentionally killed my husband?"
Rochelle, who hadn’t been updated since two days ago, sat on the edge of the bed. "He’s...dead?"
Brianna nodded, despite the pain in her neck.
"The hospital hasn’t said anything, but he’s gone."
She didn’t tell Rochelle that Senior Mrs. Colburn had basically confessed to "finishing" him. She didn’t need to. In this house, the truth was whatever the people with the power said it was.
And right now, Brianna was the one holding the bag for a dead husband.
Rochelle looked at the waffles she had brought in with such mindless cheer. The steam rising from the syrup suddenly seed grotesque.
"I... I didn’t know. Everyone was just saying he was in a coma. That he was stable."
"Stable is a word people use when they’re afraid of the alternative," Brianna looked at her hands. They were steady, but they felt cold. "Now you know. Are you going to flinch like Rosa, or are we going to work?"
Following Brianna’s deanor, she put on a facade of detachnt too. It was better everyone moved past it. One deadbeat husband down, possibly a billion more left.
"Let’s get you ready for today."
...
Beep.
The sound of the electronic sensor echoed through the entrance of the YKC News conglorate. Brianna moved through the revolving doors, her keychain still swinging from her fingers.
As the lead host for The Marriage Tribunal, she was a pillar of the largest news empire in the city.
Crossing the lobby with Rochelle, the air was thick with the scent of gossiping employees. Brianna didn’t deign to look at them, yet she could feel their gazes sticking to her back like needles.
"What is Dr. Colburn doing at work today?"
"Is this even healthy? She doesn’t have to pretend to be strong..."
Brianna left behind the murmuring when she stepped into the elevator, the doors sliding shut on the prying eyes. Rochelle stood beside her, checking her tablet.
"The schedule is a ss. Our show has been delayed. Apparently, the host for the mid-morning slot is having a full ntal breakdown in her dressing room."
Brianna stared at the floor numbers climbing. While her neck throbbed, she reached into her coat and popped a pain relief pill into her mouth.
"Why can’t people just pull themselves together?" she asked coldly. To a woman who had just survived the last 48 hours, a "ntal breakdown" over TV cues felt pathetic.
Once the elevator opened on her office floor, she walked to the door, tapped her sensor again and stepped inside.
Her eyes imdiately landed on the center of her desk. A vibrant bundle of roses sat there, accompanied by a bright, heart-shaped card.
Rochelle arched an eyebrow, setting Brianna’s bag down. "Are you seeing soone, Mrs. Colburn?"
Brianna didn’t answer. She reached out, flicked the card open, and scanned the note. Her frown deepened instantly.
Keenan.
"No." Brianna said flatly.
Without a second thought, she swept the bouquet and dropped it into the trash bin beside her desk. The irritation she felt was a physical weight in her chest.
She had spent years tied to Lucian, but the idea of Keenan, and the way this "effort" felt like an itch she couldn’t scratch, was almost worse.
How could she have ever considered a future where soone this irritating was her partner?
She sat down, finally ready to hide in her work, when a knock ca at the door.
Standing in the doorway was Mike. "Brianna? Do you have a second? I need to speak with you briefly."
...
Following him to his office, Mike motioned for her to enter first and closed the door, creating a heavy, forced privacy.
Brianna gave the space a brief, clinical scan before turning to et his eyes. She cocked a brow, waiting.
Mike cleared his throat, clearly struggling to hold her gaze. The silence was a war of dominance he was losing. He put his big boy pants on and asked. "Are you okay?"
"Why wouldn’t I be?"
"It’s just that I heard about—your husband."
Brianna’s eye narrowed slightly. Where did he hear that?
"I went for a check-up and I overheard so nurses talking about it," Mike added, seemingly unnerved by how still she was. "I’m concerned about you."
Brianna bit her bottom lip. Her mind wasn’t on his concern. It was stuck on the nurses. If they were talking, then the "secret" wasn’t a secret at all.
She drew in a slow breath, the reality of the stares she had received in the lobby finally making sense.
When she didn’t offer a word of comfort or explanation, he took a step closer. "You know you can lean on anyti, right? I still love you, Brianna. I really do."
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