SERA
“Don’t open it.”
Elliot said it from across the table. Not loud. The particular quiet of a man who had already made a calculation and arrived at a conclusion before the sentence finished leaving his mouth.
Nobody moved.
The knock came again. Three beats. Unhurried. The knock of someone who did not know they had been found out and was waiting with the easy patience of a person who believed they were welcome.
Sera looked at the door.
She thought about Leo at university. Sitting across from her in the library at eleven at night, bringing her coffee she had not asked for, listening to her talk about her mother with the focused attention of someone who genuinely cared. She thought about him in Priya’s living room two days ago. The warm smile. The careful words. Make sure it comes fro
