nd. Fatima turned without saying a word. Not a glance. No warning. She strode towards the bar with her back straight like a knife. Her heels hit the stone in sharp, steady rhythms. Zach was still

locked himself in the last cubicle. He sat on the closed toilet with his elbows on his knees and his phone lit up in his hands. There was still a note from Selene. He didn't get rid of it after all. We need to have a chat. I'm going to have a baby. His thumb was still in the air. He opened the thread by tapping it. Take a look at it. Try reading it again. There was no follow-up. No sorry. That one sentence, bare and toxic. He looked at the screen until the words became hard to see. He then closed his eyes and rested back against the stall. A minute went by. Another. He opened the phone once more. Finally hit delete. Message deleted for good. But it wasn't gone. Not really. It throbbed behind his ribs and curled up in the back of his head. He rose up, cleared the air of silence, and stepped into the mirror's reflection. His tie had come undone. His jaw looked stiffer than it was. His eyes? Tired. Burnt on the edges. He threw water on his face. Used a cotton towel to dry it off. Fixed the tie. His phone rang. He thought about it for a second and then looked. Fatima wasn't it. Selene again. She had seen him. Selene: I want to say I'm sorry, but I'm not. Zach's stomach turned. He came out of the bathroom with a tense chest. The hallway seemed colder now. Not loud enough. There was music coming from the ballroom. Laughing. Clinking glass. And then her voice. Did you already miss me? Selene leaned against the wall by the door and swirled a glass of liquid clear over ice. "Did you follow me here?" he questioned, his jaw taut. Don't think too highly of yourself. I wanted to see better. Zach walked by her, but she followed him. She murmured in his ear, "Deleting texts doesn't get rid of the consequences." He continued going. This time she didn't follow. But the sneer on her face said it all: he hadn't gotten away with anything. Not ye