That afternoon, there was a knock at Susan's door.
I expected Tony, so I braced myself for the confrontation and opened the door to see... Bella.
"Can we talk?"
I was so surprised, I just stepped aside. She comes in, looks around Susan's apartment.
"Nice place. Very... not underground tunnel." She spots the roses. "Tony?"
"Tony."
"Subtle." She sits on the couch without being invited and makes herself at home. "We need to talk."
"If you're here to defend your brother-"
"I'm not." Bella meets my eyes. "He fucked up badly. Massively. As in comprehensively fucked up."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because I've watched you two for six months, and Katherine... you're miserable without each other."
"I'm protecting myself."
"By running away to San Francisco?"
I froze. "How did you-"
"Elliot told me. We've been talking, bonding over our shared frustration with the two most stubborn people we know." She leans back. "San Francisco. That's what, three thousand miles?"
