Mine to Keep
Pull too hard and the line snaps; keep it humming and it sings.
The second fall isn’t a collapse. It’s a choice disguised as gravity.
I open my laptop and cue the security feed—not the live view, the recording. She’ll be halfway down the block by now, turning her phone over in her hand, debating whether to delete the number she swore she’d never use. She won’t. Curiosity is stronger than disgust, always.
The plan has rhythm again. Tomorrow, the Heliograph coordinator will follow up with the formal offer. The bookstore panel waits at week’s end. Two crossings more and the distance between us won’t feel like coincidence anymore; it will feel like design.