Elara
The evening had been far more exhausting than I had expected. But it wasn't the networking itself that occupied my thoughts.
It was Damian's unexpected message.
My phone rested on the coffee table. Even without picking it up, I already knew what waited on the screen, one unread notification.
Damian: How have you been?
My thumb hovered above the keyboard. I could answer him. Yet no matter how many replies I considered, none of them felt right.
If I answered him, wouldn't that only reopen the door I had forced myself to close?
I had spent weeks convincing myself that pushing Damian away had been the right decision.
I had buried myself in work, accepted more responsibilities and filled every free hour with pet-sitting or overtime. Little by little, my heart had
