This was what I’d been seeking, even if unknowingly, all these years. The connection with someone that ran bone-deep, the sex that made me feel boneless. Having a special person who was there for me through it all.
I couldn’t lie: getting what I wished for felt really, really good.
24
KIRA
The Burrow Bitches
Macey: Is everyone working late today?
Kira: Yep. I’m still at the office.
Ariadne: I just left the madness at home to work on a few projects at a coffee shop.
Britney: i spend every night studying, so yeah
Macey: We are such a crazy group.
I had just enough time to stop by the Burrow Café before work this morning. Tugging my warm coat close to my chest, I waved at Britney from afar.
This time of day was always the busiest, with secretaries grabbing coffees before a team meeting, bosses snapping for their flat white, and everyday passersby hoping to stop in for a breakfrom the hustle outside.
After patiently waiting my turn in line, Britney came over to take my order. “I’ll get started on your chai in a minute, Kira.” She quickly braided the hair that poured out of her ponytail. “We’re swamped today.”
“Actually,” I said, just as she turned away. “I think I want something different today.”
Britney froze mid-step, her expression shifting from focused to outright shock. “Different?”
I nodded.
“So…not a chai?”
“Nope.” I glanced at the menu. Crazy to think I’d worked in this building for two years and this was the first time I really read through it. “I’ll have a café con leche.”
If Britney hadn’t been so good at maintaining her cool barista composure, I was pretty sure she would’ve knocked over a whole shelf of mugs in disbelief.
“You want a café con leche.” She blinked like she hadn’t heard me right, then looked up toward the sky. “Is the apocalypse today? Are you okay? Is this some kind of dying wish?”
I laughed. “I’m fine. I just want to try something new.”
“New?” She raised an eyebrow, clearly baffled. “New isn’t in your vocabulary.”
“That’s offensive.”
She grinned sheepishly. “You’re right. Sorry. One café con leche, coming right up.”
A few minutes later, café con leche in hand, I walked into my cubicle. I took a sip of the warm, frothy drink.Huh.Who would’ve thought? Delicious.
The pale gray walls of my workspace framed my dual monitors, which hummed to life as I pressed the power button. A faint scent of cleaning spray lingered in the air, likely from the janitor’s late-night rounds, mixing with the ever-present smell of paper.
My cubicle was tidy but impersonal. A single framed photo of me and my friends sat beside a miniature succulent I’d watered twice since buying. My motivational calendar hung askew on the far wall, its bold text reading,Seize the day!
Something about it annoyed me now.
Sliding into my chair, I sighed softly. Everything about this place irked me today, a stark difference from how I normally felt about ordinary things. I used to love my boring, ordinary days, but now, they didn’t feel like enough.
Down the aisle of cubicles, my boss, Riley, strolled past. His loafers clacked softly on the industrial carpet. “Morning, Kira,” he said in his usual monotone, clutching a mug emblazoned with the company’s logo and an unreadable stack of papers.
