I hit decline.
Not on her.
On Dominic.
My pulse roared in my ears.
I returned the phone to my ear before I could undo it.
“Okay,” I said to the nameless girl, voice shaking at the edges. “Ten minutes.”
Her smile was audible. “Good,” she said softly. “I’ll see you in a minute.”
My phone buzzed again.
Dominic calling—again. Five minutes.
I stared at the screen like it was asking me a question I couldn’t afford to answer honestly.
Across the street, I could already see the café sign — warm light spilling through the windows, the kind of place that pretended to be quiet even when it wasn’t. I knew she’d be standing just inside, pretending not to look for me while absolutely looking for me.
Ten minutes.
Just… me existing.
My thumb hovered.
Then I hit accept.
“Hey,” Dominic said, and just hearing his voice loosened something in my chest. Familiar. Grounded. The sound of a life I’d built slowly, carefully, with intention.
“Hey,” I exhaled the single syllable in relief and greeting as I stepped off the curb and into the crosswalk.
“You caught me mid-walk,” he said. “I’ve got five minutes before court. How are you really?”
The question teased me softly, a beckoning, not a command. I was fully off-campus now.
“I’m… okay,” I said automatically.
Dominic was quiet for a second. “Flash, that wasn’t your best work, I’m not convinced,” he said it so gently, I even caught the worry beneath it.
I smiled despite myself. “You’re not supposed to cross-examine me.”
“Occupational hazard.”
A snort of laughter escaped me. I walked past a bakery, the smell of bread warm and real in the cold air. My reflection flickered in the windows of closed shops — camera bag on my shoulder, hair pulled back, eyes too awake.
“I’m just tired,” I said into the phone. “It’s been… a lot.”
Dominic exhaled. “Yeah. I hear that.”
The warmth in his voice made my throat tighten.
I reached the café door and paused with my hand on the handle. Inside, I saw her.
Seated at a small table by the window. Coat draped over the back of her chair. Coffee untouched in front of her. Pretending very badly not to look up every time the door moved.
My pulse spiked. I pushed the door open.
