Her Only Exception のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 91 - チャプター 100

Henry had been pacing the room for the last thirty minutes, Andrea had said she'd be back before the show started.That was the last thing she told him before she left that morning, still in her jacket, bag on her shoulder, already halfway out the door. “I'll be back before it starts, I promise.” He hadn't thought much of it at the time. He'd had his own morning to get through, a few calls to return, some paperwork he'd been putting off. But now it was two hours to showtime and her phone had been going to voicemail since noon.He tried again. Same result.Henry set his phone down on the kitchen counter and looked at it for a moment. It was probably nothing. She was with Mindy, and anyone who had spent more than twenty minutes around Mindy the week of an event knew that your phone ended up in your bag and your attention ended up fully occupied whether you intended that or not. That was the most rational explanation and he knew it.He still tried one more time.Voicemail.He picked up h

The final walk was everything.All six models came out together for the closing round, moving in formation down the runway while the audience responded with the kind of energy that filled a room from the floor up. Andrea was at the end of the line and she moved with the rest of them, her nerves having settled somewhere between her second walk and now into something that felt almost like calm. Not confidence exactly, more like the quiet that comes after you've already done the scariest thing and survived it.The lights were bright, the cameras were everywhere and the front row was watching attentively with the practiced attention of people whose opinions carried weight in rooms like this one. Andrea kept her eyes forward and her shoulders back and did exactly what Raymond had told her. She picked a point and she walked to it.When they stopped at the end of the runway the applause was immediate and generous. Andrea stood in the line and felt the heat wash over her. She thought about

Andrea woke to the soft hush of morning light filtering through the penthouse windows. Henry’s side of the bed was already cool and empty, the sheets smooth where he had slipped out hours earlier. A short note rested on his pillow in his bold, handwriting: Early meeting. Didn’t want to wake you. See you tonight. – HShe stared at it for a long moment, one hand drifting unconsciously to her still-flat stomach. The two pink lines from two days ago felt heavier in the quiet daylight. Tonight. She would tell him tonight.Pushing the covers aside, she padded downstairs in her silk robe, bare feet silent on the cool tiles. The penthouse felt different without Henry’s presence–-calmer, but somehow larger. She moved toward the kitchen, drawn by the faint aroma of fresh coffee and something warm baking.Miss Carrie stood at the kitchen island, humming softly as she arranged a plate of scrambled eggs and toast. She looked up the moment Andrea entered, her warm brown eyes softening at the sight

Andrea sat on the couch with her hands folded in her lap, watching them."Okay so picture this," Serena said, sitting sideways on the armchair with her legs dangling over the side like she owned the place. "Forty slides. Forty. I spent three weeks on that presentation. Three weeks, Henry. And I get up there in front of the whole board and my clicker stops working on slide two."Henry burst out laughing. "No.""Yes. I'm standing there clicking this thing like an idiot and nothing is happening and everyone is just staring at me and my co-lead, bless his heart, is pretending to check his phone so he doesn't have to make eye contact with me.""What did you do?""What could I do? I talked through the whole thing from memory. Forty slides. No visuals. Just me and my mouth and the grace of God."Henry shook his head, still laughing. "Only you. That could only happen to you.""And they still approved the project," Serena said, holding up a finger. "So who's the real winner here?""You're insa

Henry got to the car and Serena was already there leaning against the passenger side with her sunglasses on and a coffee cup in her hand, looking like she hadn't just flown in from another country the night before."You took forever," she said."I said twenty minutes.""You said at least twenty minutes. There's a difference." She pulled the door open and got in.Henry shook his head and got in on his side. He pulled out of the building into the morning traffic and Serena immediately kicked her shoes off and tucked her feet under her on the seat the way she had been doing since they were teenagers and it had driven his mother absolutely crazy."Some things never change," he said, glancing at her feet.She looked down at them. "Your car, your rules. But your rules are wrong." She took a sip of her coffee. "Do you remember when your mom caught me doing this in her car and she made me sit outside on the curb for twenty minutes?"Henry laughed out loud. "She was so serious about that car."