Chapter Six: Sidney Bloom Arrives

Myra POV

Noah said it over coffee without any introduction. "She knew exactly where you were."

I wrapped both hands around my mug. "I know."

"That's not a mother checking on her son."

"I know that too." I stirred my coffee even though there was nothing left to stir.

He looked at me for a second. "You okay?"

"I'm fine."

He didn't push. That was the thing about Noah: he said what mattered once and then gave you space to think about it. I finished my coffee and walked back to the studio alone, turning the thought over the whole way there.

Victoria didn’t just happen to find us. She showed up at the perfect time and place, standing in the rain with her umbrella. Timing like that isn’t a coincidence. It’s planned.

I tried to remember if she’d looked surprised. She hadn't. That bothered me more than anything else because people looked surprised when they stumbled onto something. Victoria just looked like she expected it.

The studio was empty when I got there. I laid out my drawings on the corner table and got to work. For about twenty minutes, things almost seemed normal.

Then Danny walked in. He walked in without saying good morning; I didn’t either. We had moved beyond those polite gestures.

He sat down across from me in silence, opened his sketchbook, and began to draw. He acted like last night had never happened. As if his mother hadn’t stepped out of the darkness with that empty smile and taken apart the whole evening in less than a minute.

We went back to the drawings. I kept my eyes on my page, and he kept his on his.

"You left fast," he said eventually.

"I had somewhere to be."

He turned a page. "You didn't look back."

I didn't answer that. He already knew why.

An hour went by. It was real, quiet work, the kind where you stop worrying and just think. I leaned over to point out a structural problem in his elevation, but his hand was already there. We both stared at the same spot on the page, our fingers almost touching, neither of us moving.

"Load distribution," I said.

"I know."

Neither of us moved our hands.

The door opened.

She walked in the way some people enter a room, as if the room had been waiting for her. She was composed and unhurried, with a kind of put-together look that seemed effortless but was not. She spotted Danny right away, just as she always did.

"There you are." She crossed to our table. "Your phone's been off."

Danny's jaw tightened. "Sydney."

Sydney Bloom. Della mentioned her name at the gala, sharp and memorable. Meeting her in person, she was just as polished as I expected, maybe even more so.

She looked over at me. "You must be Myra." Her tone was friendly, but only just. "I've heard about the project."

"Have you," I said.

She set her hand briefly on Danny's shoulder, light and unhurried, the kind of touch that didn't need to announce itself. "Victoria wants dinner tonight. She's in the city."

Danny looked away for a second.

"I'll call her," he said.

"She'd love that." Sydney looked at the drawings between us, then back at me. "It was lovely to meet you, Myra."

She left without rushing. The door clicked shut.

I picked up my pencil. Set it down.

"She seems nice," I said.

Danny looked at me.

"I know," I said. "That was a lie."

"Myra…"

"She put her hand on your shoulder and mentioned your mother in the same breath." I kept my voice steady. "I'm not asking you to explain it. I just want to know one thing." I looked at him directly. "Last night, was it real, or was it just the rain?"

His eyes stayed on mine. “You really want the truth?"

"Yes."

"It was real."

Something in my chest loosened, just a little, but it was enough to be dangerous. I nodded and pulled my sketchbook closer. "Then finish your elevation."

He looked at me for another second. Then he started drawing, and we both worked quietly. The silence between us felt comfortable, like it didn’t need any explanation.

My phone buzzed on the table, screen down. I picked it up and turned it over.

It was an unknown number. The message was just one line.

A word of advice: Be careful what you think is real.

I stared at the message for a moment, then put my phone face-down so Danny wouldn’t see. I picked up my pencil and kept drawing.

Sydney Bloom had introduced herself just eleven minutes ago, and she already had my number. She didn’t show up at the studio by chance, either.

Around here, nobody did anything by accident.

I looked over at Danny sitting across the table. His head was down, and his pencil kept moving, not noticing the message lying face-down just a few inches from my hand. I left it there. He already had enough on his mind. So did I.