Page 86 of Beautiful Ruins
“If I had known he was going to imprison me inside his… fortress,” she gestured vaguely around the lavish room, “I would have stayed with a friend.A colleague.A stranger.Literally anyone with a door I could exit freely.”
I carefully painted the edge of her nail, steadying her finger when she tried to move it mid-rant.
“You’re being dramatic.”
“I am being inconvenienced,” she countered.“There is a difference.”
She wiggled her fingers in the light, unimpressed.
“And we had an appointment today, remember?We were supposed to go together to get our nails done and do some shopping.Now look at us.Reduced to amateur nail care in captivity.”
I glanced at her hands, then at mine, then back at her.
“They look fine.”
“That is not the point,” she shot back immediately.“The point is autonomy.Freedom.The simple joy of walking into a salon and letting someone else deal with cuticles while I judge their life choices in silence.”
Despite myself, a small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.
I finished the last nail and blew gently across her hand.
“We’ll survive,” I pointed out.
Tone turned her head slowly, narrowing her eyes at me.
“You are far too calm about this,” she observed.
I leaned back in my chair, studying my own freshly painted nails.
“I’m not scared,” I admitted.“Annoyed, maybe.But not scared.”
Tone hummed, unconvinced.
“Mm.That is either emotional resilience, or denial.I’ll diagnose later.”
A small silence settled between us, comfortable in a strange way.Then I glanced at her.
“So, who’s this boyfriend you broke up with but haven’t told me about yet?”
Her reaction was immediate.Subtle, but immediate.Her shoulders stiffened just a fraction before she rolled her eyes.
“He was a nobody.”She was dismissive, waving me off.“I don’t even know why I wasted my time on him.”
“That bad?”
“Worse,” she revealed.“Charming in public.Incompetent in private.And emotionally exhausting.A tragic combination.”
I tilted my head slightly.
“Kind of like me.”I thought of Nathan.
Her gaze snapped back to mine, sharper now.
I gave a small, humourless smile.
“I dated a man who lied about everything, dealt drugs, cried poor, and lived off me while pretending he was struggling.I’d say that qualifies as wasted time.”
Tone studied me for a moment, her expression losing some of its sarcasm.
