Ch. 8: An Unexpected Guest

The morning came in grey and quiet, the way it always did before everything changed.

There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do. Nina crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to.

She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more.

The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered. "You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," Nina said. "I'm asking you to listen." "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Nina said. "I'm asking you to listen." The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," Nina said. "I'm asking you to listen." "You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to.

Outside, the world went on as if nothing had shifted. Inside, everything had.