CHAPTER 164

I got back to my apartment just after 4 a.m., and I was buzzing like I hadn't in a long time. There was an unexpected yet obvious quality to all of it. In two months, Kat Freely had gone from a fringe social media acquaintance at the periphery of my thoughts to... what? As I showered and tried to focus on the work day ahead, my thoughts kept wandering back to Kat. I worried that perhaps it was a one-time thing, and it surprised me how vehemently I recoiled at the idea. How many one-night stands have there been in the last ten years alone? Dozens. I shook it all off. I had work to focus on. I checked my watch, intent on going into the office early, and saw it was 4:57 a.m. I turned on the TV and tuned it to KBRK. I took my coffee and sat down on the couch, waiting for the first traffic report.

A couple live, local, late-breaking headlines later, on came Kat Feely. She beamed, looking cheerful and collected in a blue dress, her hands animated as she talked about the building rush hour.