Chapter 28

• I tried to apologize afterwards for what I had said, but instead he only forced me to finish breakfast and informed me that in the afternoon we would go see the doctor to check the stitches and decide whether to remove them or not. I grab my bag and the keys to the truck when he stops me, telling me to leave them because I would go with him. I get into the truck, greeting the driver. During the journey to work, neither of us spoke, and it was worse when we entered the building together because most of the people, being women, turned to look at us. I pass through the security guards and walk to the elevator with my head down. It's when we're trapped in the metal box that he speaks to me again.
• " There's a trip scheduled to Japan next week " he announces as we go up " It's for a week, so pack your things."
• When the doors open, I think about having to go to Japan. One thing was going to the other side of the country, and another very different thing was going to the other side of the world. It was a week in a foreign country with Christian. I slump at my desk, taking the folder we had for trips, noticing that this one had just been confirmed. A business meeting for the reading of a contract or something like that was noted. That's how I spent part of the morning organizing everything necessary for the trip and sent a message to Christian to send the flight plan as soon as possible. In response, he said that the doctor's appointment was at 4:30 in the afternoon, so we would leave a little earlier to avoid traffic. When Cass arrived, we were both sitting in front of the computer waiting for something. It was one of those quiet mornings that stress you out, and to calm myself down, I went to the bathroom just to distract myself by changing the gauze for a new one. For a few seconds, I looked at the stitches and the irregular cut that had been made. I ran my index finger delicately along the edge, with a heavy sigh I covered the cut and left the bathroom.