00:00The front door opened while I was still rinsing dishes.
00:03Not a knock, not the bell.
00:05The lock clicked, the handle turned, and a woman stepped inside like she had every right to.
00:14I froze with soap on my hands.
00:16She was tall, polished, and dressed like she had never worried about rent a single day in her life.
00:24Her blonde hair fell in soft waves over one dare shoulder,
00:28and her heels made clean, confident sounds against Caleb's floor.
00:33Then her eyes landed on me.
00:37Oh, that one word held all the surprise I felt, and none of the embarrassment.
00:42I set the plate down slowly.
00:45Can I help you?
00:47Instead of answering me, she looked past my shoulder, toward the hallway.
00:52Caleb?
00:54His bedroom door opened a second later.
00:56Later, he walked out in a t-shirt and sweats,
01:00toweling his hair dry,
01:01and stopped short when he saw her.
01:05Beatrice.
01:05So this was her.
01:07Not a rumor.
01:09Not an ex I could ignore,
01:10because she belonged to some version of him before me.
01:14A real woman standing in his apartment,
01:17with a code to his front door.
01:19My stomach tightened.
01:21Beatrice Rose lifted a small smile and held up a charger cable.
01:25You left this in my car.
01:27Then she glanced at me again, slow and measured.
01:31I didn't know you had company.
01:34Caleb's hand stilled on the towel.
01:36He looked at me once, then back at her.
01:39You should have texted.
01:40That was not the same as saying,
01:43she should not have come.
01:44I should have gone to my room.
01:47Instead, I stayed in the kitchen,
01:49with a dish towel in my hand,
01:51while Beatrice Rose walked farther into the apartment,
01:55like she was touring familiar ground.
01:57She set the charger on the counter,
02:00and smiled at me again.
02:02Not rude.
02:03Not kind, either.
02:04The kind of smile women use,
02:07when they want to know exactly how threatened you are.
02:10I hated that.
02:12I could not answer honestly.
02:15I'm Beatrice Rose.
02:17Veronica.
02:18She let my name sit there a second,
02:20then tilted her head.
02:23You're staying here?
02:24Before I could answer,
02:26Caleb stepped between us,
02:27just enough to break the line of sight.
02:30She's a friend.
02:31The word landed wrong.
02:33Friend.
02:34Not guest.
02:36Not important.
02:38Not anything that explained
02:40why my toothbrush was in his bathroom drawer.
02:44Beatrice Rose leaned one hip against the counter.
02:48Right.
02:48I just stopped by because you weren't answering.
02:51Caleb folded his towel and set it down.
02:54I was busy.
02:55She glanced toward me at that and almost smiled.
02:59I knew I should leave.
03:01I also knew I would not.
03:03Beatrice Rose straightened and reached for her purse.
03:06I'll let you get back to it, then.
03:09At the door,
03:10she paused and looked at me over her shoulder.
03:13He hates it when people touch his record player,
03:16and he always loses his keys in the second kitchen drawer.
03:21She said it lightly, like a joke,
03:23like she belonged to the details of him.
03:26Then she walked out,
03:28leaving the door softly open behind her.
03:31Tris Rose was waiting outside my building the next morning.
03:35She sat on a bench,
03:37with one leg crossed over the other.
03:39Sunglasses pushed into her hair,
03:41looking like she belonged on a magazine cover,
03:44instead of outside my lecture hall.
03:47She stood the moment she saw me.
03:50Veronica,
03:51do you have a minute?
03:52I should have kept walking.
03:55I stopped anyway.
03:57We stood off to the side while students streamed around us.
04:01Beatrice Rose did not waste time.
04:03I didn't mean to make things awkward last night.
04:05You didn't.
04:07The lie sounded thin even to me.
04:10She folded her arms loosely,
04:12her bracelets catching the light.
04:14Caleb and I have known each other a long time.
04:18I said nothing.
04:19There was nothing safe to say to that.
04:22Beatrice Rose looked toward the building doors,
04:24then back at me.
04:25He gets intense when he's bored.
04:28It's one of his worst habits.
04:31Heat crawled up my neck.
04:32If you have something to say, say it.
04:34She softened her voice instead,
04:37which somehow made it worse.
04:39I'm just telling you to be careful.
04:42I gripped my bag strap harder.
04:45Careful of what?
04:46She gave me that same polished smile from the apartment.
04:50I believe you're the first girl he's looked at like that.
04:54Then she stepped aside,
04:56just as Caleb came up the stairs and saw us standing together.
05:00Caleb took one look at my face and stopped on the bottom step.
05:04Then his gaze shifted to Beatrice Rose.
05:07Whatever he saw there made his expression flatten.
05:10What's going on?
05:12Beatrice Rose's tone turned airy.
05:15Nothing.
05:15We were just talking.
05:17I almost laughed at that.
05:19Nothing did not leave me feeling flayed open in broad daylight.
05:23Caleb came up the last two steps and moved to my side without touching me.
05:28That was enough.
05:30Enough for students nearby to slow down.
05:32Enough for whispers to start.
05:34Justin appeared out of nowhere,
05:36with his backpack,
05:37hanging off one shoulder and a grin
05:40that always looked cheap.
05:42Damn, Cal.
05:43You work fast.
05:44My stomach dropped.
05:45Beatrice Rose's face did not change.
05:48Caleb's did.
05:49Shut up, Justin.
05:51Justin lifted both hands like he was innocent.
05:53What?
05:54I'm just saying.
05:56First she's at your place.
05:58Now she's on your arm.
06:01I was not on his arm.
06:02That made no difference.
06:04Once the words were out,
06:06the heat of humiliation rose straight into my face.
06:10Before I could walk away,
06:12Caleb stepped forward,
06:13putting himself fully between me and Justin.
06:16His voice came out low and hard.
06:19You don't talk about her like that.
06:22The grin slipped off Justin's face.
06:24Around us,
06:26the noise on the steps thinned.
06:27Beatrice Rose said nothing.
06:30I stood behind Caleb's shoulder,
06:32pulse bounding,
06:33while Justin looked at me once and smirked.
06:36So she matters now?
06:39I waited until after dinner,
06:41until the plates were stacked,
06:43until the apartment went quiet,
06:45until Caleb stopped pretending the day had not happened.
06:49He was rinsing a glass at the sink when I spoke.
06:52How many girls have keys to your apartment?
06:55The glass stilled in his hand.
06:58He shut off the water
06:59and turned around slowly.
07:02That's what this is about?
07:04She walked in like she lived here.
07:06He set the glass down
07:09and dragged one hand through his hair.
07:12She used to have the code.
07:14Used to.
07:15The word should have helped.
07:16It didn't.
07:17I crossed my arms and leaned back against the counter
07:20to keep from fidgeting.
07:21And you forgot to change it?
07:25Caleb's mouth tightened.
07:27I didn't think about it.
07:29That must be nice.
07:31He looked at me harder then.
07:33What's that supposed to mean?
07:35I laughed once, quiet and bitter.
07:38It means you get to forget people.
07:40Some of us don't.
07:44He came around the island,
07:46not close enough to corner me,
07:47just close enough to make leaving feel obvious.
07:50There's nothing between me and Beatrice.
07:52I held his gaze.
07:54Then why did she sound like she knew you better than I do?
07:59For a second, neither of us moved.
08:03Then he said my name like a warning
08:05and a plea at the same time.
08:08Veronica.
08:09Veronica.
