ASHER:
By the time I returned to the counter, the table where Malcolm had sat was empty.
Gone.
I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding, my chest sinking slightly as if I'd been bracing for something that never came. Relief or disappointment — I wasn't sure. And I didn't really have the time, or the courage, to figure it out. Instead, I turned back to my tasks, threw myself into them like they could scrub the ache from my ribs. Like they could erase the strange, lingering weight in my stomach.
The rest of the day passed in a blue haze. Not grey, not black — blue. Quiet and stretched out, a touch cold around the edges. Customers filtered in and out, their voices blending into the hum of the espresso machine, the rhythmic clinking of cups against saucers. The door chimed. Orders were called out.
And Liam… Liam kept his distance.
To my delight.
