Emma sat at her kitchen counter, flipping through her notebook as the late afternoon sunlight streamed through the window. It had been weeks since she and Alexander had tentatively resumed their friendship. Although their interactions were mostly light and easy, there was an undeniable undercurrent of unresolved tension between them.
She let out a sigh, her pen tapping against the page. On the surface, everything seemed fine. But the walls she had built weren’t easy to break. Trust, she realized, was a fragile thing—easier to lose than to rebuild.
Her phone buzzed on the counter, jolting her out of her thoughts. It was a message from Alexander.
Alexander: Hey, do you have time tonight? I wanted to talk about something.
Emma stared at the message for a moment, her mind racing. She had m
