Daniel:
I shouldn’t have done that.
The thought is clear. Not loud, not dramatic. Just… there, settled in place like a fact I can’t argue with.
I lean back in my chair and stare at nothing in particular, the office still quiet at this hour. The city hasn’t fully started yet. No calls. No interruptions. Just enough silence for my mind to go where it wants.
Which, apparently, is back to her.
Not everything. I’m not replaying it like a scene. It comes in fragments instead. The way she said my name. The way the conversation shifted without either of us forcing it. The moment I stopped thinking about what would happen next.
That part stays.
I don’t stop thinking about what happens next.
That’s usually the point.
And yet, I did.
I let it happen.
No. That’s not quite right.
I chose it
