Lala’s Unsettled Heart
The house was quiet, but Lala’s mind was not.
Even in stillness, something stirred—soft, persistent, refusing to settle. The past had been named, acknowledged, and seemingly dismissed, yet its echo lingered like a shadow just beyond her sight.
Michelle.
The name returned uninvited, drifting through her thoughts at unexpected moments—while folding Layla’s tiny clothes, while stirring soup on the stove, while watching Daniel laugh with their daughter.
Lala hated how gently the name touched her heart.
Not violently.
Not dramatically.
Just enough to unsettle.
The Nature of Insecurity
Insecurity did not arrive as jealousy.
It came as curiosity.
Who was she to him?
What version of Daniel did she love?
Lala knew Daniel’s present self—his patience, his devotion
