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relationship nothingness. But she’d underestimated the effect Alex had had on her in the short weeks they’d been dating. She didn’t want to lose her to her own pig-headedness. She didn’t want to lose her without a fight.
    Alex just exited the building as Maddie arrived. Through the glass door she saw Isabella speaking on the phone. Nat pointed at her watch while making eyes at her.  
    Something made Alex stop dead in her tracks. She stood there gobsmacked. Had she seen Maddie approach from the side? Her eyes were aimed in front of her though. Maddie took a few more steps and caught the reason for the stupefied look on Alex’s face.
    Rita looked better in person, more regal and commanding. But Maddie wasn’t interested in spying on Rita Lowe. She needed to see how Alex reacted to her after the initial shock wore off. From the way her jaw slacked, it was clear Alex hadn’t been expecting her.
    Maddie stopped and hid in the shadows near the escalator, opposite the gym building. Dozens of people hurried past and she could easily stay out of view. She shuffled close enough to be able to hear whatever conversation might ensue, but Alex didn’t look quite ready to start talking yet.
    Rita straightened her posture and took a step toward Alex. She just waved and smiled, not saying anything. As if putting herself on display—as if merely being there—would be enough to sway Alex into…Into what?
    Alex didn’t appear swayed in the least, her lips pressed together and her eyes narrowed to slits.
    “Before you say anything,” Rita started, while invading Alex’s space a little more. “I haven’t come here to argue, nor to beg for your forgiveness. I wanted to give you this.”
    Rita took hold of Alex’s wrist and twisted her palm upwards. With her other hand she let something fall into it. Maddie was standing too far away to see what it was.
    “I thought you might like it back.”
    Alex stared into her palm as if the most precious treasure in the world had landed in her hand. Maddie was itching to find out what it was, but she opted to stay in hiding and study Alex a bit longer.
    “Yeah.” It was the first word Alex uttered and it came out cracked and quivering.
    “Call me if you want to talk.” Rita stroked Alex’s lower arm with the back of her hand for a brief moment. “Anytime.”
    Alex didn’t reply, but looked shaken. As Rita turned on her heels, Nat and Isabella exited the gym.
    Maddie hesitated a split second too long and before she could emerge from the shadows, the three of them had set off in the other direction.
    Maddie’s plan had come undone in front of her eyes. This wasn’t the gentle reconnection she had hoped for. It should have been her standing there waiting for Alex instead of Rita. It should have been her causing that array of emotions to creep along Alex’s face. She’d lost this battle and she didn’t know how to gear up for another one.
    She’d been ready for a fight, but what if this was a war impossible to win?

    ALEX

    To any bystander not in the know—anyone apart from Alex and Rita—the rock Alex cradled in her hand was just an insignificant grey piece of matter. To Alex it was a reminder of the best day of her life.
    When Alex had met Rita more than six years ago on a junk trip, she’d fallen hard and fast for the confident, long-legged blonde with the cool blue eyes. Alex had boarded the boat as a carefree twenty-something eager for a relaxed good time on her day off. She had disembarked eight hours later as a hormonal lovesick mess, reduced to monosyllabic replies to any questions asked, enthralled by Rita and her loud, room-filling personality.
    They’d swum out to the shore together, Alex showing off her form and Rita—surprisingly—keeping up, and gotten caught up in a tipsy pseudo-philosophical conversation about a piece of rock stranded on the beach. Unbeknownst to Alex, Rita had smuggled the rock into her bathing suit and presented it to her a few weeks