I closed the door softly behind me, the silence of the apartment settling around me like a thick, comforting blanket. The quiet was almost eerie, but after the day I’d had, I welcomed it. I welcomed the stillness, the fact that the place hadn’t burned down, and the relief that Benjamin hadn’t called or texted with any emergencies. It seemed, for once, that everything was under control—both of them were probably asleep.
I got fired.
The thought rolled through my mind again, heavy and unrelenting. I had spent the last eight hours trying to come to terms with it, but no matter how I twisted it, the reality didn’t make sense. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I no longer had a job—that after this week, there would be no paycheck.
It wasn’t Jack’s fault. I knew that, and I underst
