to get mad, to anticipate his eventual rejection so I could stay strong. With Marjolein, I knew there would only be understanding.
As crazy as it was with her only being a few years older than me, when I looked at her, I saw the kind of woman I had always dreamed to have as a mother.
"I have to go," I repeated and tugged my hand from hers.
"Yes," she agreed and quickly reclaimed my hand. "But you don't have to do it this second. I can sneak you back to my apartment. I'll hide you out for a few days and we can make arrangements for wherever you want to go."
Listening to her, I relaxed a little. I anticipated a few problems with her plan, namely Jake, but there was also the promise of a solution to the larger trouble surrounding my legal name and need for a passport. Jake had already boasted that Marjolein was a miracle worker. Maybe it was time to see if he was correct.
"I can't expect Jake to allow such accommodations," I said, lightly testing her resolve to help me.
She laughed and brushed the idea away with her hand. "You can't see it, but that man loves you. He won't like it, but if it means keeping the thinnest line open to you, he will move heaven and earth."
I shook my head. "You don't know the conversation that just went on between us."
Whatever he had felt for me -- and I doubted it was love -- his affection couldn't possibly survive the truth.
Marjolein rolled her eyes. "Well, if he won't, I will quit and apparently his dumb ass brother would be upset."
Threading our arms together, she lightly knocked her head against mine. "You and me, Alexa, we're going to get through this together."
"Don't quit on my account," I said and offered my own gentle head bump. "But if you can convince Jake, then I'll stay at your place a few days."
Smiling, she released me with a short kiss against my cheek then marched in Jake's direction. By the time she reached her boss, he had his thick arms folded across his chest and his head down like a bull ready to charge.
I didn't know what his posture meant, but I was certain it didn't bode well for the success of Marjolein's plans.. No matter how sweet and passionate he had been the last month, I couldn't shake the memory of how quickly he had turned cold during our first few encounters, tossing me aside in such a manner that I had felt as used as the condom he had worn while fucking me.
For all I knew, he had already come to his senses and decided to kick me to the curb.
Tension spreading through my body, I watched Jake and Marjolein arguing. At least their faces looked like they were arguing. I couldn't hear them and Jo-Jo had to chase after Jake every few seconds as he paced the length of wall that ran from the studio door to the first manufacturing station.
As he prowled back and forth, his gaze returned again and again to where I stood.
Sensing Marjolein was fighting a lost cause, I wanted to bolt. But Riona seemed to have posted herself at the only door that offered a quick escape. She, too, refused to take her eyes off me.
Feeling thoroughly defeated, I sagged against the door to the studio and waited until Jake stormed off and Marjolein returned, an ear-to-ear grin plastered across her beautiful face.
"All set," she said, hooking my arm and leading me into the studio to reclaim our regular street clothes.
********************
Despite promising myself on the long, circuitous drive to Marjolein's apartment that I would only divulge enough information about my past to see if she had a solution to my current legal dilemma, I wound up spilling my guts shortly after eleven that night. I told her in far greater detail than I had offered Jake. Together we went through several boxes of tissues and stayed up past two a.m. watching a sappy comedy before falling asleep in her bed.
When her cell phone chimed shortly after eight a.m., neither of us was ready for what happened next.
"Riona," Marjolein groaned, reading the display as she sat up and pressed the call accept icon.