sm

My vision blurs as tears well up in my eyes, and my c

not here when they could come outside and s

it's raw and unrestrained, pouring like a downpour of rain as my bod

ded myself. "It's over. I divo

ning the end of a marriage-I'm grieving the years I wasted, the nights I stayed awak

linded by love, too hopeful, too foolish to think that he would change, but

storm toward the elevator, jabbing the

I step inside, my breath

und myself. My heart feels like it's being wrung out, sque

nfaithful long before I caught him. He used my kindn

voice that has always made me go weak just listening to him.

listened. I had walked away from a career I loved, b

at, there wa

his selfishness. I was just another pie

thoughts. I step out into the chilly nig

t I guess the scene I walked in di

ble for my phone, my fi

on blurred with fresh tears, before p

v

n the first r

throat closes up. A stran

lk to me! Wh

's over. I just-" My voice breaks. "I just wal

, then a sharp intake o

y face, though the

steady, urgent. "Take a deep breat

see me. "Okay," I whisper, b

e into the back seat, givi

a-half drive

ery red flag, every moment

ed myself I was overreacting

me out of my downward s

oriented. "O

unsteady beneath me. The moment

v

murmurs, pulling me

sob against her shoulder, my whole

d whispers reassurances as she

*

e asks no unnecessary questions and never makes me feel like a burd

re than anything, confirms what I've known deep do

him. I landed a job at an upscale restaura

the first time in a long while, I feel l

been too long since I've let loose, and I want

outfits with the kind of giddy ex

anks to Ava's connections,

drink turns into two. Then three. The music pulses a

the crowd. As I scan the room, my gaz

r of mystery clinging t

strange, electrifying pull coil in my chest. Our eyes meet, jus

wd shifts, a

to shake off the feeling.

till w