She picked up the cellphone and just as he said, he had programed it with his number. For a long moment, she considered calling him, but decided against it. She put the cellphone back on the nightstand, grabbed her laptop, sat on the bed and opened it. She checked her emails, but there was nothing from him. She logged into the chat room, but he wasn't there either, so she logged back off.
One last time, she went to the window and looked across the plaza. His light was still on, but he was not standing in his window looking back. Tired and devastated by his hurtful words, she got under the covers, touched the diamond necklace he gave her, and finally let herself cry.
*
"How is she?" Austin asked when he called the next day. He hadn't slept much and although he wasn't much of a drinker, his disappointment the night before called for a few too many. Now he had a headache and was washing down his second set of aspirin with coffee.
"Quiet, but she's fine." Jackie answered. "Right now, she's trying on clothes from a rack I had the boutique downstairs bring up."
"Good, send me the bill."
"I intend to. It's Sunday and it took some convincing to have them send someone."
"Did she sleep?"
"Not well. I heard her moan in the night and peeked in, but she settled back down."
"Laura called. She got the police to take Mathew out of the house. I don't like not knowing where he is, and I won't know if he's out of town until he uses the credit card."
"Try not to worry, we're keeping her safe. Austin, there is a lot you do not know about Georgia."
"Then tell me. I really should be informed."
"She got very angry when she turned sixteen, but then Maggie, the girl who died in the car wreck, hacked into the school's records and found out who Georgia's parents were."
His was a statement rather than a question. "Georgia stole Maggie's identity."
"No, it was not like that. Maggie had an American passport and Georgia wanted to go to the US. Maggie wanted to go to the art school Georgia got a scholarship to, so they switched."
"Oh, I see."
"Did the security guard tell you how she's been living?"
"No, how?"
"The guard was so appalled, he wanted to throw all her clothes away and I convinced her to let him. She's been living in a converted motel room, with a 1950s refrigerator and stove that don't work. All he could find in the cupboards was a box of crackers."