"After all these years, you're so different now!"
Through the ground-floor window, cars whizzed by as emerald hedges obscured pedestrians' legs. Everyone scowled—the summer sun had declared war on Tokyo that afternoon.
When their desserts arrived, Elvis remained oblivious that Alicia had quit sugar cold turkey three years earlier. Maybe because of him. Maybe because of that controlling tyrant she married.
"Really? What's different?"
Her smile didn't reach her eyes as she nibbled the cake. The sugar hit like a punch to the gut.
Elvis sprawled in his chair, ankle resting on knee, fingers knitted together. "Can't quite pin it down," he mused. "But even your style—I almost didn't recognize you."
His awkward chuckle drew a hollow laugh from her. The tension between them was suffocating. T
