Stella's apartment was quiet when they got home, a silence that felt too heavy, too sharp, like it was suffocating the air. Sasha walked in slowly, her face blank, too drained to cry again. She dropped her bag on the couch and collapsed into it like her legs could no longer hold her.
Stella walked in behind her, locking the door. She looked at her friend like she was staring at a stranger. Sasha wasn't supposed to be the one making this kind of decision. Not her.
"So...you're really going to do this?" Stella asked, arms folded across her chest.
Sasha didn't answer for a second. She just stared ahead. Then she nodded.
"I already called him," she said, voice low and hollow. "I told him I'll take his offer."
Stella's eyes widened. "You what?"
"I did. He said he'll send a car tonight. It
