Rory
Three days of silence from Dray felt longer than the entire year that came before it, and by the third morning I'd convinced myself the internship, the investigation, and whatever fragile thing had almost bloomed between us in that garage were all equally, permanently over.
He didn't answer texts. He didn't show up to any meeting I was copied on, delegating everything through Priya with a professional distance so total it felt like a wall built brick by brick specifically to keep me out. I went to the office each morning anyway, because quitting would have raised questions I couldn't afford, and sat through eight-hour days of forced normalcy while every part of me waited for a confrontation that never came.
I replayed the garage constantly — the wrench in his hand, the door slammin
