oom and collapsed onto her bed, staring at the bl

utes passe

ldn't s

n. It buzzed to life, a flood of notifications from group

. The link she'd sent was marke

, there wa

r washed over her, the three

t. She held her breath, her eye

rty seconds, as if he were constructing a complex, profound sentence, only to abruptly vanish

ank again. The si

A new message. She swiped it open s

s fro

not what you think. I'm busy for the

ripping with the casual arrogance of someone who expected

face, blurring the cold words on the screen. She wiped them away angrily, her f

he words, then

as the

erse of disappointment and exha

h

ontact settings and swit

, plunging it into a perpetual twilight. The floor became a graveyard of crumpled sketches. She wo

like a cave in here." She peered at Kaelyn's pale face and the da

ster. "Just a design competition," she said, her

d. She hesitated, then said softly, "Listen, about that pos

pencil, and the lead snapped, the sharp point digging

said, her voice flat as she tossed the broken pe

the ultimate prize," Eleanor sighed. "Turns out he's

o a wound Kaelyn couldn't even acknowledge. The NDA meant she d

reen, trying to focus. But all she could see was his

ll from Clemente. She watched the screen flash, his

tes later

the pho

is tone made her

e-canceling headphones and turned the music up until it wa

a heavy hand, erasing the evidence of her sleepless weekend. She put on a black, sha

ecture & Investment Board. As the lead representative for

representing the finance dep

the eye. She buried the hurt, the betrayal, the

decisively on the pavement as she headed towa