Chapter 4
I first took my passport, personal bank card, laptop and spare hard drive with client files, and then put two pairs of woolen trousers, a winter coat and the silver necklace left by my mother in the suitcase.
When I finished packing, the suitcase was leaning against the wardrobe, zippered.
At two o'clock in the morning, the lock of the entrance hall rang softly.
Ethan is back.
I lay back on the bed with my back to the door and didn't move. The sound of him putting down his keys and pouring water was heard from downstairs. After a while, he went upstairs.
He didn't ask me if I was still awake, and he didn't mention the argument. He just lay down on the other side of the bed.
After a few minutes, his breathing gradually calmed down.
At three o'clock, the phone vibrated in silent mode.
The screen displayed an automated message from the ride-hailing service:
Reminder: Your pick-up time is scheduled for 4am.
Here are the calendar reminders Ethan set earlier this week:
Don't be late tomorrow. Our flight is 10:45.
I put the phone back in my coat pocket and stood by the window looking at the street lights until the clock on the dresser reached three-thirty in the morning.
At 3:45 in the morning, the phone in my coat pocket vibrated.
It was an automated message from the ride-hailing service:
Your driver has arrived and is waiting on the curb at the end of the block.
I didn't turn on the lamp.
The only thing in the room was the gray street light shining through the blinds.
I lifted my suitcase.
When I walked out of the bedroom threshold, the wheel lightly touched the brass floor batten and made a crisp "snap".
Ethan shifted on the mattress.
The duvet tightened as he rolled over to sleep on his side.
"Grace?" he called vaguely, his voice heavy with sleep.
His right arm stretched across the sheets and his fingers traced the blank surface of the bed where I had just been lying.
His hands curled up for a moment, but he didn't touch anything, and finally they lay flat on the bed.
I stood at the door and glanced at him.
Ethan turned over and his breathing calmed down quickly.
On the side table in the foyer, two boarding passes were pressed under his key ring.
Grace Vance. Ethan Vance. Block 14A. Block 14B.
I gently closed the door, went downstairs and got into the silver car waiting at the corner.
As the car pulled away from the curb, the apartment building, the corner grocery store, and the turn into the avenue retreated behind the window.
The sky began to whiten.
In just over four hours, Ethan will wake up.
I leaned against the car window and thought of nothing.