L. Marie Adeline- S.E.C.R.E.T

Will. Of course he should marry the girl he loves, right?
“No! God no. I mean like living together … but yeah, eventually marriage is what she
wants.”
“Is that what you want, Will?”
It was near high noon. The sun was pouring in through the sunroof, heating the tops of
our heads. It was making me a little dizzy.
“Sure it is. I mean, why not, right? Why wouldn’t I want that? She’s a great gal,” he
said. He was looking straight ahead at the road. Then he turned to me for a moment,
smiling weakly.
“Wow, your passion is blinding,” I said, and we both laughed.
We arrived at the auction parking lot. It was half empty, and that was good—fewer
people meant lower prices.
“Let’s go buy some junk,” he said, turning o the engine and almost jumping out of
the car.
I had a momentary urge to sit there with him awhile, to comfort him, to touch his hair,
to tell him it would be okay, that all he had to do was be honest with himself. But I also
felt a pang of jealousy. Tracina had never seemed to mind my friendship with Will,
wasn’t the slightest bit suspicious of our time together, which I actually found a little
galling. I knew I was no threat to her, and yet there was a part of me that wanted to
cause some discomfort, a growing piece of me that wanted to prove I was a force to be
reckoned with, even if just a small force.
But I didn’t have a chance to say anything. Will was already halfway to the auction
house, so I opened the car door, stepped out and followed him.
Friday came far too slowly. I had laid out a new pair of black yoga pants and a stretchy
white T-shirt, which I decided to wear over a tight black tank top. Bad enough that I was
wearing workout clothes, but I was careful to keep Dixie away from the pants. I didn’t
need to show up at the Mansion covered in furballs like some middle-aged cat lady.
Right at the appointed time, I saw the limo pull up in front of my building. I was down
and out the door before the driver could reach the buzzer.
“I’m here,” I said, greeting him breathlessly.
With a gloved hand, he directed me to the car and opened the back door for me.
“Thank you,” I said, settling into the plush seat and glancing back at my building. A
lace curtain on the main floor parted and dropped. Poor confused Anna.
In the limo, there was a bucket with champagne and water on ice. I grabbed a water
bottle; I did not want to arrive half-drunk. It was 7 p.m. and trac was light, so we
were in front of the S.E.C.R.E.T. headquarters in no time. Normally I took the gate o
the street to the coach house, which was walled o from the main estate. This time the
double gates leading directly to the Mansion opened automatically to allow the limo.
Driving past the coach house, I could see over the wall of vines that all four dormer
lights were on. I wondered what kind of work was being done in the coach house on a
Friday night, what kinds of scenarios were being plotted for me and perhaps for other