Chapter 13
Mia returned to the tennis club three weeks later.
Not because Rocco wanted her there.
Because her therapist suggested that avoiding the building forever might turn it into something larger inside her memory.
Rocco gave her the choice.
Mia chose to go.
She held his hand inside the elevator.
When the doors opened onto the underground level, her fingers tightened.
Rocco did not move.
“We can go back.”
Mia stared at the concrete pillar.
Michael stood several yards away.
No Bianca.
No Grant.
No employees pretending not to see her.
Mia stepped out.
Rocco followed.
She walked toward the pillar until she stood exactly where she had been left.
Then she looked up.
“Is Bianca coming?”
“No.”
“Ever?”
“Not unless you want her to.”
Mia thought about that.
“I don’t.”
“Okay.”
That was all Rocco said.
Michael approached with a small stuffed rabbit.
“We found this behind the old storage-room cabinet.”
Mia’s eyes widened.
“My bunny!”
She grabbed it with both hands.
Rocco looked toward the storage-room corridor.
The door had been removed.
Not locked.
Removed.
The room itself had been cleared.
No secret meetings would happen there again.
Michael had also rewritten the employee reporting rules.
Any staff member could contact Rocco’s office directly.
No associate, family member, or manager could block the report.
Rocco signed the policy himself.
It seemed absurdly small compared with everything that had happened.
But systems were built from small permissions.
So were abuses.
As they returned toward the elevator, Mia suddenly stopped.
She looked down at the faded spot on the concrete where her shoes had remained for nine hours.
Then she took three deliberate steps away from it.
Rocco said nothing.
May you like
He understood what she was doing.
This time, nobody had told her where she had to stand.
