CLAUDE
I SIGHED—FOR what had to be the hundredth time today. I’d eaten, showered, done everything I was supposed to do. And now… now I was just waiting. It hadn’t even been four hours since he left, but the quiet was starting to press in, and I was already tired of sitting here, pretending I wasn’t checking the time.
Like I wasn’t curious what had him leaving early in the morning.
I pushed myself up from the couch and made my way to the elevator and pressed the button to the lobby. When the door opened, the noise hit fast. Loud. Busy. A mess of conversations, suitcases rolling, heels clicking. I kept my head forward and moved through it.
Then I stopped. Every part of my body freezing. My ears twitching and my body on alert.
It felt like I was being watched.
I turned quickly, sniffed
