Sophia
I texted Noah the next morning, asking him to come by after closing, and he arrived exactly on time, the same careful, guarded expression on his face that had become familiar over these past several difficult days.
"Thank you for coming," I said, gesturing toward our usual table, though nothing about tonight felt usual at all.
"Of course," he said, sitting across from me. "How are you doing? I know yesterday was a lot."
"I've had better weeks," I said, a humorless laugh escaping despite the heaviness sitting in my chest. "I've been doing a lot of thinking since we last talked. About everything. The article, the photos, all of it."
"Okay," he said carefully, watching me with the wary attention of someone bracing for whatever was coming next.
"I keep trying to reconcile the pers
