By the time she reached her apartment, exhaustion sat heavy in her bones. Her heartbeat hadn't stopped its uneven rhythm since she'd seen him. Her mind couldn't hold a single thought steady. The apartment was too quiet.
Not peaceful-quiet — the other kind. The kind that hummed against her skin, sharp and electric, like the stillness before a storm.
Willow dropped Victor's jacket on the couch and stood there for a moment, breathing through the exhaustion. Her makeup was smudged. Her hair was pulled back too tightly. Her dress felt like a costume she hadn't earned the right to take off yet.
At least it was the weekend.
She had no idea how she'd walk into Star Engineering on Tuesday, sit across from Zane, and deliver the presentation they were supposed to finish together. She couldn't even say his name without her pulse misfiring.
