✽ Jason ✽
The drive back from lunch stayed quiet, but it wasn’t the same quiet as before. Mandy kept glancing out the window, then down at her hands, then back up again, like she didn’t know where to put her excitement. Her smile kept slipping out when she thought I wasn’t watching.
I watched anyway.
The restaurant had been bright and harmless. She had relaxed there, and I had learned something useful. Mandy didn’t need grand gestures. She needed permission to breathe. She needed space that felt safe. She belonged to me. That truth didn’t change. It only sharpened. When we reached the building, Mandy stepped out of the car first. The cold hit her cheeks, and she tucked her chin into her jacket, but she didn’t hurry like she used to. She waited for me to join her. We walked side by side
