Ch. 17: Promises

There were things Ela had learned never to say aloud, and most of them were about she.

She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. Ela crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to.

Money could buy a great many things, she had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most. She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do.

"You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do.

For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. Ela crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to. "You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to.

Money could buy a great many things, she had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most. The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered.

They did not speak for a long moment. Some silences carry more than words ever could, and this was one of them.

"You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered. "You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to.

She did not sleep that night. There was too much to lose, and far too much to want.