~ Lily ~
The last full day in the city disappears faster than the days before it, as though the city itself understands we’re already prepping to go. My final meeting ends just after lunch, and for the first time in years I walk out of a conference room without immediately thinking about the next one. There are emails waiting. There are calls I could return. There are decisions that can’t wait until tomorrow but instead of reaching for my phone, I slip it into my handbag and leave it there.
Hector is waiting outside the hotel with his sunglasses hooked into the collar of his shirt, looking completely at ease in a city that isn’t his. He smiles when he sees me.
“You look lighter,” he says as we begin walking.
“I feel lighter,” I admit.
“Good.”
“That’s it?”
“What else is there to say?
