Jessica didn’t remember how long she stood there after he left.
Minutes, maybe hours, it all blurred together in the thick Manila air, the sound of the city fading until all she could hear was her own heartbeat. The text still glowed on her screen, small and merciless.
See you again soon.
The words looped in her head like a curse.
She shoved her phone deep into her apron pocket, trying to will it out of existence, but the panic had already rooted itself inside her chest.
By the time she made it back into the restaurant, the world felt hollow, the clinking of plates, the chatter of customers, the smell of burnt oil. Everything moved around her, but she wasn’t really there.
She lasted an hour before the cracks finally showed.
When her shift ended, she walked home like a ghost. The noi
