Ch. 20: Where We Begin

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

Sophia crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to. Sophia crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to. For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all.

For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Sophia said. "I'm asking you to listen." She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," Sophia said. "I'm asking you to listen." For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. Sophia crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to.

He had built his whole life on being certain. She had a way of making certainty feel like a cage.

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.

He watched her go and understood, too late, that he had already made his choice.