CHARLOTTE

“Hello, Maria,” I said as I pushed the door open and walked into the room. I had been waiting a long time to see her face, and the instant I had the opportunity to do so, I didn’t wait one second longer.

I made sure things at the club were going as planned, entrusted the care of the business to Sonia’s hands, and left L.A. at the crack of dawn the next morning.

Leaving the city I had run to for a fresh start and going back to a place I didn’t think I’d ever return to in a very long time filled me with apprehension. I wasn’t sure...