LOGINHe doesn’t startle. He doesn’t apologize for being there. He just looks up at me, eyes steady, taking in what I didn’t say out loud.“Couldn’t sleep,” he says.“Neither could I.”He shifts to make space. I sit beside him, the towel still damp against my thighs. The air between us is thick with every
Sally doesn’t waste time easing into it.She closes the door behind her and sets the folder on the table without sitting down, like she’s afraid the weight of it might spread if she pauses too long. Her jaw is tight. Controlled. The kind of control that takes effort. That alone tells me this isn’t r
We end where we began.Technically aligned.Practically divided.No trust gained.Just time bought.When it adjourns, I stand and leave immediately. I don’t linger. I don’t invite conversation. Staying would give them another angle, another chance to read something into my posture or expression. As
The room changes when I enter.Not dramatically. No hush slamming down like a dropped curtain. No sudden stop that would be obvious enough to call out. Just a subtle recalibration, the way people shift their weight when something heavier steps onto the floor. Conversations thin. Voices lower. Eyes f
I wake before dawn with my heart already racing.The room is dark and close, the air thick with the kind of heat that only shows up after a night of bad sleep. The sheets are twisted around my legs, damp where sweat has soaked through. I lie there for a second, staring at the ceiling, listening to m
The leader’s smile has vanished completely now.“You’re undermining the process,” he snaps, frustration bleeding through the polish.“I’m correcting a lie,” I say.The difference lands. You can feel it in the way the room recalibrates, the way some people stop looking at him and start looking at the







