Page 74 of Fractured Loyalties
But I can feel something watching me. Not just him. Something behind it. Like a presence has nested in the seams of my awareness and is waiting to see what I’ll do next.
My phone vibrates again.
I slide a hand into my pocket, thumb brushing the volume rocker. I don’t pull it out.
Because if I do, I’ll look for him.
If I look for him, I’ll find him.
And if I find him, I’ll leave.
So I stay.
Alec raises a toast—something about team cohesion, about surviving the quarter. Everyone lifts their glasses. I lift mine.
When I drink, the lime hits my lip first. Bitter. Clean. Sharp.
It grounds me.
For three seconds, I’m just a girl with a drink and coworkers and a sore jaw from pretending nothing hurts.
Then I look up—and see something in the window.
A reflection.
Not Elias.
Something else.
A man standing still. Not close. But not far. One foot inside the halo of a streetlamp, the other in shadow. A ballcap low over his eyes.
He’s not watching the window.
He’s watching the mirror.
He’s watching me.
My pulse skips.
And when I blink, he’s gone.
Not turned. Not moved.
Just—gone.
I set the drink down, careful. My spine is too straight now. My legs feel like they remember a different room, a different fight.
Celeste catches the change in my posture. "Hey," she says. "You sure you’re all right?"
I swallow. "Bathroom," I say. "Just need a second."
She nods, distracted by the new round of conversation.
I stand.
The floor shifts slightly underfoot—either the wine in everyone else’s system or the sudden absence of breath in mine.
I don’t go to the bathroom.
