Previously

The next morning Alice was staring in the mirror, trying to figure out what type
of magic make up was going to help mask her swollen eyes. It was her first day
covering the hearings and she was determined to not let this get in the way. She
was in Washington to do a job. This was for her, for her career and her future.
She was not going to let this stalker thing or Dana ruin it. Julia had given her the
opportunity she was both looking for and scared of and she wasn’t going to let it
slip by.

When she heard the knock at the door, she opened it without looking, assuming
it was room service. The last thing she expected or wanted was to have Dana
standing in front of her.

—

Chapter 31

Dana looked at Alice’s swollen eyes and the blank stare coming from them and
knew she was too late. She’d lost the chance to minimize the blow, lost the
chance to tell Alice herself, essentially, lost the chance to show Alice that she
loved her enough to be honest, no matter the cost.

"Al?"

"Dana, I don’t have time. I need to get ready for the hearing." Alice said as she
tried to shut the door and walk back into the room, but Dana’s foot stopped that.

"Alice, wait. Please." She walked into the room and grabbed Alice by the
shoulder, turning Alice to face her. "Al, please. I need to talk to you."

"You are about 12 hours too late to talk to me, Dane. And by the sound of your
voice, you know why." Alice turned away and walked into the bathroom, this
time getting the door shut before Dana could stop her.

Dana ran to the bathroom door, but Alice had locked it. With her body pressed
on the door, she started pleading. "Alice, I’m so sorry. I didn’t want you to find
out like this. I mean I didn’t want you to find out. I didn’t want to lie to you, but
nothing happened, so it wasn’t worth hurting you. Please, Alice, you have to
believe me."

"Believe you?" Alice spat through the door, "Look on the dresser by the flowers
and tell me again nothing happened. What did she Photoshop your tongue down
that woman’s throat?"