Lahat ng Kabanata ng World of Tomorrow: Kabanata 41 - Kabanata 50

With the New York Times tucked under one arm and his hands in his pockets, Andrew hurried across the Trust’s lobby, whistling Where or When. It had played last night at some point when he and Evelyn had danced and had kept playing in his head until he’d woken this morning with the memory of her lips and skin and lissome body against him. When he rounded the corner into their thirty-eighth floor office, Andrew stood stock still, staring at the empty space behind her desk where Evelyn should be, then darted down the narrow hall to the kitchenette, disappointed to find it empty of all except a brewed pot of delightful smelling coffee. Sliding his tongue over his front teeth, wracking his brain for where she might be, he ambled slowly into his office then grinned. The sturdy coffee mug of clear pink glass he stubbornly refused to relinquish to Evelyn sat steaming its fragrant bouquet in the exact spot he liked it on h

Andrew’s voice sounded raspy, doubtless from the argument with his mother, but still cultured, elegant and cool. Between the gravel in his voice and his disheveled appearance, his fine suit wrinkled as he sat cross-legged on the floor like one of the children, the exchange they were having seemed absurd, even bordering on surreal. Stripped of his polished veneer, he should have sounded fanatic. Instead, he sounded entirely sincere. Evelyn’s heart lurched and her eyes widened in shock, then the cold hard truth intruded again. She had to keep her defenses up—she was too big of a pushover to his charms otherwise, and all that had landed her was a broken heart. “You want what you can’t have, Andrew.” Cocking his head, he huffed a laugh and flashed her a megawatt smile. “That’s not how I imagined that going.” “Cinderella stories only work for real princesses.” He look

“What do you suppose he’s doing here?” Evelyn scarcely looked up at Lily’s question. Instead she gave a grateful sigh as they emerged from the revolving door. Removing the handkerchief from her purse, she wiped her nose. “The same thing everyone else is—working or banking.” As they neared the elevators and the density of the crowd increased, Lily’s curiosity was piqued. “Oh, please. Did you even look up?” “I’m sorry. I didn’t, but I would hope you’d understand. I’m not exactly at my best right now.” She dabbed her nose again and folding the kerchief tightly around itself, tucked it back in her purse. Glancing up, she startled when Lily’s hands closed on her upper arms. Her sky blue eyes were focused elsewhere. “He’s not banking, and I guarantee if he’s working, it’s not here.” Following Lily’s gaze, Evelyn studied the man in question bri

“My word, is there no end to this?” Evelyn moaned to Lily, rapidly waving her folded paper fan at the back of her neck. The two of them made their way along the congested sidewalk on their last leg toward the Trust. Already her camisole was soaked through and even the cotton tap pants she wore clung to her body miserably.“Almost there,” Lily panted back, keeping pace with the rest of the teeming masses. She shuddered beside Evelyn at the sudden chill as they drifted into the revolving door, though even the air conditioning only lowered the building’s temperature to tolerable.Twice during the last month—once shortly after Evelyn had been discharged from the hospital, and again towards the end of the miserable July—Trust employees had been sent home without pay when blackouts shut down the cooling fans. Without the moving air, the building’s internal temperatures skyrocketed into the stratosphere. Even the potted plant Evelyn kept on the conference table in Andrew’s office had wilted,

Drowsy as she had been, suddenly Evelyn was wide awake. Not only as a result of her embarrassment. Lily’s new request to divulge ‘everything’ felt horribly invasive, and the reservation was readily obvious in her voice. “What is it you want to know?”Leaning forward eagerly, Lily propped her elbows on the table, her head in her hands. “Oh for pity’s sake, Evie, who am I going to tell? You’re my only friend. How did this happen? Was it an accident? Were you fooling around and things went further than you thought? Did you talk about it together and decide?”“We didn’t talk about it. Or plan it,” Evelyn admitted reluctantly. “Things—sort of—progressed—until we were—,” she shrugged, “—there.”Lily beamed. “How romantic! It’s much better when it’s spontaneous if you ask me. Besides, talking with men is an utter waste of time. At least, it is once that part is engaged. Was it your first time?” She sat up abruptly, her face etched with concern. “Did he hurt you?”Evelyn shook her head. “He di