Ch. 19: After the Fall

If someone had told her a year ago that she would be standing here, she would have laughed.

There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do. For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all.

Nina crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to. The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered. Money could buy a great many things, he had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most.

There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do. 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. For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. Nina crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to.

Nina crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he 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.

Every choice had a price. Nina had known that for years, and still the knowing never made it easier.

Nina crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to. Nina crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to.

Tomorrow would ask its questions. Tonight, she let herself simply breathe.