**Chapter 21: New Rhythms**
New York had a way of making even simple tasks feel like small victories. Mara's first week at the firm passed in a blur of introductions, badge photos, and a desk with a view she still hadn't gotten tired of glancing at every twenty minutes.
"How was day three?" Jonah asked, looking up from his laptop when she dropped her bag by the door, the apartment finally starting to look less like a cardboard maze and more like an actual home.
"Exhausting. Good exhausting." She kicked off her shoes, collapsing onto the secondhand couch they'd found on a corner two blocks over. "My creative director actually used one of my mockups in a client pitch today. Called it 'refreshingly unpretentious.' I think that's a compliment."
"High praise, from what I understand about cr
