4
MALIBU, 2019
Clara leaned back on the divan in her living room. She sipped her cognac, watching the sun set over Malibu Bay. The pollution refracted the rays of the sun, so the colors were subdued in their brilliance as the red disk sank into the ocean.
Her house was completely quiet except for the sound of the sea. Paolo and his mother had gone to their homes across town. Clara wouldn’t have people in the house at night. She liked to sleep without being awakened by other people’s dreams.
She listened idly to the silence, letting it pool around her and cocoon her. She still hadn’t heard from her manager regarding the asshat she’d met earlier that day, but she wasn’t worried. Donna knew her job. The marketing VP would be pounding the streets by morning.
Clara turned away from the sun
