Ashes Of His Regret
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The shower runs hotter than it should, but I don’t turn it down, standing under the water longer than necessary as if it might wash something away guilt, memory, the echo of Julian’s voice but nothing changes, and by the time I step out, my reflection looks exactly as it always does: composed, polished, controlled.
Only it doesn’t feel like me.
When I walk back into the room, Damien is watching the news, and this time, he doesn’t turn it off when I enter, which irritates me more than it should, because the headlines flash across the screen in bold, unforgiving text Julian’s name everywhere, his face, his downfall reduced to clean, dramatic phrases.
Denied bail. Flight risk