Elara did not press me for an answer after that.
Two days passed. She asked whether I had eaten, whether I was sleeping well, whether work had been tiring. Ordinary things. Not once did she bring that up again.
It should have been a relief. But somehow, it was worse.
I could not tell whether she was holding back to avoid pressuring me—or if she was simply waiting, letting my guard lower before bringing it up again when I could no longer dodge it. The thought made my stomach tighten.
Still, I had already been thinking about it. About giving it a chance.
Before that, though…
I sat on my bed with the blanket pulled over my legs after Alex left for work. I waited a while, listening for the sound of the door downstairs, for his footsteps to fade completely. Only then did I reach for my phone.
I had seen plenty of scenes in movies. But those never explained anything that actually mattered. They skipped over details and assumed you already knew what was happening down below.
