WHAT AGAIN ?
I step out of the taxi and feel the weight of the night pressing on me, each step toward the apartment like walking through molasses. My legs move, my body functions, but my mind is numb, robotic.
I didn’t say a word, since we left the hotel.
Inside, the sitting room swallows me whole. I slump into the nearest chair, hands clutching my head as if holding it together physically will keep the rest of me from shattering.
Mia sits beside me, soft and steady, her hand brushing mine, trying to anchor me. “Mel… breathe. It’s going to be okay,” she murmurs, but I shake my head, unwilling to accept her comfort.
“Did you see the way he spoke to me?” I finally whisper, voice tight, raw. “Like I’m a dirt in his shoe… like I don’t even exist. This was a bad idea.”
I pause, letting th
