Alexander
The phone keeps vibrating in my hand a second longer than necessary. I don't answer immediately. Not out of doubt, but out of calculation.
I let it ring two more times… three… just enough to remind myself that whoever is on the other end isn't in control.
Then I swipe.
"Vanessa."
I don't say anything else; there's no need.
The silence on the other end lasts barely a fraction of a second… and then I hear her. Her breathing is rough, uneven. As if she's struggling to hold the air in her chest.
"Did you see him?" she says, without a greeting, without an introduction, without any filter.
I close my eyes for a moment. There she is.
"Yes."
A single word, measured… Cold.
On the other end… something breaks. It's not open crying, not yet. It's that sound before… that
