I took a deep breath. They’d been doing this for days, not rushing in to confront me. They probably wanted to give me space, time to calm down, and I was grateful for that. But it had been a while now, and I knew it was time to face them.
"Okay, I’ll come down," I said, my voice hoarse.
The maid closed the door softly behind me, and the familiar darkness of my room engulfed me again. It felt heavy, just like the weight in my chest. I took another deep breath, tried to compose myself, and walked out of my room.
When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw Marco and Enzo sitting in the living room. Ms. Rossi is nowhere. They looked like they had been waiting for me for a while.
When they saw me, I could tell their expressions soured even more, as if they were annoyed just by my presence. I walked up to them, sat directly in front of them, and got straight to the point.
"What do you want to talk about? Is this about the party? About the humiliation you both gave me? Or is it about the shame I caused to Clara?" I already knew the answer to my own question, but I couldn’t help it.