Noah
Sophia's text sat glowing on my phone screen long after I'd read it, the first real c***k of hope I'd allowed myself to feel in days, though I forced myself to set my phone down without responding further, respecting the careful boundary she'd asked me to honor.
The days since our confrontation had passed in a strange, hollow rhythm, my apartment feeling considerably emptier than it ever had before I'd met her, every quiet evening now stretching out endlessly without her easy laughter or the warm, comfortable pull of Sweet Crumbs waiting somewhere across the city.
I'd thrown myself into work instead, partly out of necessity, partly because staying busy felt like the only way to avoid drowning in exactly how badly I'd handled everything. The blind trust structure Priya and I had bee
