“So… the rest of the week, you haven’t seen Daniel at the office?” Katherine asked, stirring her iced latte with an idle rhythm.
They sat by the window of a softly lit café nestled in the heart of the mall, their shopping bags forming a colorful barricade at their feet—shoes, perfumes, dresses neither of them needed but both deserved. Outside the glass, weekend laughter and chatter rolled by in waves, the soundtrack of ordinary happiness. Inside, the scent of roasted coffee beans and cinnamon sugar wrapped around them like an old memory.
Marian smiled faintly, the kind of smile that flickered and died before it reached her eyes. “No,” she said. “The last time I saw him was when we ran into him after my lunch with Gary and Elise. And to be honest…” She sighed, tracing a finger along the r
