Chapter 2

I go to Mercer Studio the next afternoon to collect my camera and two hard drives.

The receptionist is new.

When I give her my name, she stops typing.

"Audrey Lane?"

"Yes."

The man at the next desk looks up.

Then quickly looks down.

Before I reach the elevator, I hear someone say, "Subject A actually came in?"

"Shut up."

"What? Blake calls her that."

The elevator doors close behind me.

For four years, I've walked into this building carrying things they needed.

Product photographs.

Packaging revisions.

A bag of sandwiches because Blake forgot to order food for a late meeting.

Today, I carry an empty camera bag.

The head of design meets me upstairs.

"Audrey. I didn't know you were coming."

"I texted about my equipment."

"Right. Of course. Give me a minute."

Behind him, a wall of Milo sketches runs the length of the department.

My sketches.

I never joined the company. I had my own clients, and when Milo started selling, we put the arrangement in writing.

The character stayed mine.

The company licensed each collection.

Blake used to joke that I was his most expensive girlfriend and his cheapest designer.

I used to laugh.

While the design director finds my drives, I wait beside a conference room.

The door is open.

A production schedule fills the screen at the far end.

LIVE TEST SUBJECT A — 8/10.

The first eight rows have green checks.

Beside the eighth check:

FAMILIAR COMFORT: TIME TO RECONCILE.

The ninth:

POST-BREAKUP EMERGENCY RECALL. TONIGHT.

The tenth:

LIVE BREAKUP CHALLENGE. LAUNCH EVENT.

I take out my phone.

Photograph the screen.

"Audrey?"

Tessa stops beside me with a box of samples against her hip.

She sees where I'm looking.

"Can someone change that slide?"

A man inside reaches for the laptop.

The screen goes black.

"What's Card Eight?" I ask.

Tessa adjusts the box.

"I don't handle the actual research."

"Then who does?"

"Blake and the content team."

"You're on the videos."

"That's different."

She gives me a smile that barely holds.

"Look, nobody meant to hurt you. It's exaggerated relationship stuff. Everyone gets annoyed with their boyfriend."

"Did everyone agree to be filmed?"

She glances toward the design desks.

A few people suddenly find things to do.

The director returns with my equipment.

I check the serial numbers.

Put the drives away.

Tessa follows me toward the elevator.

"Blake does care about you. He brought you dinner at the hospital, didn't he?"

I stop.

"How do you know that?"

Her mouth closes.

"Tessa."

"It came up in the review."

"The review."

Someone calls her from the conference room.

She turns too quickly.

"I have to go."

I stand beneath the brand wall, remembering his thumb wiping a tear from my cheek.

Familiar comfort.

Time to reconcile.

Blake comes out of the meeting room a moment later.

He looks at my bag, then at the blank screen.

"Who showed you the schedule?"

"It was on the wall."

"It's internal."

"So was my relationship."

His jaw tightens.

I point toward the room.

"You approved an emergency test tonight."

"I'll cancel it."

"Now."

He takes out his phone and types.

Then puts it away.

"Done."

"Show me."

"Audrey."

"Show me."

His expression hardens.

"I said I handled it."

The design director is still close enough to hear.

Blake notices.

His voice softens.

"When have I ever wanted you to get hurt?"

I look at him.

For years, that question would have ended the conversation.

Today, I lift my camera bag.

"Tell your team I'm not Subject A."

He reaches for the strap, as if he's going to carry it for me.

I pull it onto my shoulder.

"My name is Audrey."