Page 9 of Everdoll

Technocrats, data barons, descendants of the old Earth dynasties…

Prisne laid down her cards on the table, her shoulders tense. Across the table, the retired diplomat grinned.

There was a moment of silence. Then a crackling robotic sound rose from the top of the table.

“The winner is Black Luck!”

At the sound of the absurd nickname, the man raised his hands in victory, celebrating with those around him. I turned toward my friend.

“Pris…”

“I’m officially broke, Mina.”

She said in a flat voice, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. We had been at Yunna’s for almost two hours and hadn’t won a single bet. Silvia had left us earlier, saying she’d seen someone she knew, but I spotted her leaning against the bar counter, arms crossed, wearing a troubled expression. A blonde woman was next to her a moment ago, but now she was gone.

“This is the last.” I didn’t comment when Prisne took the money from my bag. I looked around with a bored expression, as I had been doing for hours. Then I froze, my gaze landing on the door.

Damn.

Seeing that familiar silhouette, I reflexively hid behind Prisne. My heart was pounding, consumed by the desire to disappear.

“What? What’s going on?” Prisne whispered, then glanced at the door. “Oh.”

“Hide me.”

“What?”

“Let’s go, Pris.”

We hurried toward the bar counter. The place, which had been nothing but noise for hours, had fallen silent. Even whispers were barely audible now.

“Fuck it, Loxton’s here.” People began to leave the tables while I closed my eyes tightly, my hands shaking. This is really a nightmare. I want to wake up!

“Didn’t you want to see him? Why are we running away now?”

“I don’t know, don’t ask me anything.”

Prisne really did stop asking questions, covering my curly hair with her gray hat, occasionally glancing at the door to see where Raymond was. I also looked over her shoulder fearfully.

I’d seen him on screens before. At project launches, at distant parties, even through drones I’d sent out hoping to catch a scandal. I’d watched him grow more handsome each year, yet seeing him now still sent a jolt through me. His coat was high-collared, tiny gears glimmered along the chain of his pocket watch.

Otherworldly and impeccably refined. He belonged in a painting rather than in the bar’s seedy bar corner. His hair was combed back, but a few black strands had slipped forward across his forehead. The vibrant eyes I once compared to labradorite were now a deep azurite blue: distant and lost.

Perhaps no one on the planet had noticed, but whenever I saw him, I felt both excited and sad.

What happened to you, Remi? Why are you in such a horrible state?

The years had changed both of us, but it was clear Raymond was in worse shape than me. He was one of the most important technocrats at Mars’ royal table; he must have had a lot of responsibilities and worries. It couldn’t be me who was making him look so exhausted and fed up with life, right?

I needed to stop being so narcissistic. He hadn’t even bothered to reach out to me in the past four years. At first, I’d hated him for it, but over time, I’d come to understand it. Even if we had loved each other, it was the wrong time, and…

What about now? Do I love the man across from me? Or hate him?

Well, I didn’t even know him. If I hated anyone, it was the teen Raymond. The cold wall in front of me was different from him. He wasn’t my Remi. That teenage boy who refused to love Mina Olind’s true self—even though he knew everything about her—was gone now.

Who was there left to be furious at? It was like shaking a fist at cigarette smoke.

I had moved past all. I’d soon be twenty-three, whatever had happened was long, long gone… There was no reason for me to harbor any ill will toward my ex. I could just pretend I was meeting an old acquaintance.