Chapter 54Annika
It was Friday night, and the weekend loomed ahead. A long, lonely weekend. The old Annika would have been planning to attend some social event for even the slightest glimmer of excitement, with the potential of meeting someone amazing, but she didn’t have the energy for it. She wasn’t too physically tired, though it had been a hectic week. No, mentally and emotionally, Annika knew she was not up for something like that. The idea of fussing over her hair and makeup, trying on one outfit after another and discarding each one that fell short of making her feel worthy of notice, just to have a few hours of feigned fun that inevitably left her emptier than she’d begun, was nothing less than repugnant at the moment. If she’d learned anything at all from spending time with Steph
