Raven pulled back the heavy curtains. It was still dark outside. The lights on some of the Medieval houses bounced off the tranquil water of the river. It was a beautiful sight. What a different world it was.

Raven’s hometown, Atlanta, was nothing like this city. Back home, skyscrapers dominated the view. Here, only ancient churches stretched high into the sky. Most of the other buildings around here were small.

Not that Raven had seen much of Ghent. She hadn’t taken that evening walk she had planned to take. She had been too tired and, frankly, too overwhelmed. After undressing and freshening up, Raven had gone straight to bed.

Unfortunately, she was now wide awake at 4 AM. In Atlanta, it was only 10 PM. Raven was tempted to call her sister and mom for a few minutes, but she didn’t want to risk waking them. They went to bed early quite often, unlike Raven.

“Damn,” Raven mumbled to herself, her stomach growling.

She tried to get a better look at the street, her nose pressing against the cold glass of the hotel window. She didn’t see any stores or restaurants that looked open. All the windows were dark.

A sadness settled in her chest and Raven stepped away from the window. She rubbed the spot between her eyebrows, sitting down on the bed. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly. She looked around again.

It was a wonderful room, with old wooden beams that decorated the ceiling. There was plenty of space and all the furniture was extremely comfortable. It only made Raven feel more alone. Rooms like these were meant to be shared.

It had been a while since she had gone on a trip with someone else. She figured it had to have been the weekend in New York with Zahra. Grimacing, Raven remembered how fast things had started to unravel between them soon after.

She got back up with a heavy sigh. There was no use in playing that tape all over again. It would only make her feel worse. Instead, Raven considered her options for the day ahead. She paced back and forth.

Her first to-do should be trying to get hold of Bart. Where the hell was he? Sending his assistant to pick her up from the airport was one thing. Not getting in touch at all after she had traveled all this way was worse.

If she hadn’t heard from him by 8 or 9 AM, she’d reach out to Nathalie and ask if she had any update. Raven stopped pacing. She suddenly thought of Nathalie’s brown eyes, twinkling.

Tilting her head, Raven wondered what time Nathalie usually got up in the morning. She seemed like she could be an early riser. Rolling her eyes at herself, Raven tried to focus on her next steps again.

She had no intention of staying inside this hotel all day. She wouldn’t meet Bart at the office until tomorrow. There wouldn’t be anyone there today, so she was on her own. Her stomach growled again.

“Maybe I can find a breakfast place online?” Raven thought. “Or I could ask Nathalie … If she’s awake. She did offer to show me around.”

Raven scratched the back of her neck, just under her bonnet. Whenever she thought of Nathalie, the tight feeling in her chest became a little less unsettling. The truth was that Raven dreaded spending the whole day by herself.

Slowly, taking one hesitant step at a time, she made her way to the table in the corner of the room. Her phone was still hooked up to its charger. She tapped on the screen without picking it up.

She recognized the message icon straight away. Her pulse picked up a little as she tapped again to see who had sent her a message. There was one from her sister. Another from her mother.

At the top of the list, there was a number she didn’t recognize. It was long and looked international. Raven grabbed her phone, the corner of her lips curving up slightly as she opened the message.

“Hey, is the hotel room okay? Hope you had a good night’s sleep. Let me know if you want a guide to show you around in the morning. Nathalie.”

Raven’s tentative smile now spread across her entire face. She checked the time the message had been sent. 4.01 AM. That was a very early hour to be texting someone you had only met once, she thought with a grin.

A tingling feeling started spreading in her chest, chasing the tightness away altogether. Raven rolled her shoulders and considered her reply. Should she ask Nathalie about breakfast or was that too pushy?

Her growling stomach answered the question for her. She started typing. “Do you know a decent breakfast place that’s open? I’m starving and could really use something yummy.”

Raven reread what she had written and hit send. The blue text balloon shifted on the screen, and the word ‘delivered’ appeared in small text underneath. Hoping for a quick reply, Raven stared at the phone until she remembered the early hour.

“Right,” she realized, “Nathalie might have gone back to bed.”

Her gaze drifted to the fruit bowl on the dresser. The apple didn’t look that bad. She sighed and went over to pick it up, holding on to her phone in her other hand. It vibrated just as she sunk her teeth into the fruit.