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least not for the next few minutes. She finally straightened, her

body aching, her heart in far worse shape. The first thing she

spotted was the to-go mug she’d set on the small table off to

the side. She grabbed it, suddenly thirsty beyond bearing,

popped the lid off, and inhaled the scent of coffee.

Dark. Black. Nothing added to it. Exactly how she liked it.

Giana couldn’t have known. She probably made it that way

because things could be added but not subtracted.

Coffee wasn’t like life. Things could and would be

subtracted, and in the end, you’d be entirely alone.

Chapter 7

Giana

It was hard to force herself not to call or text all night.

Giana hadn’t set a timeline on Coralyn’s coming back. Not

when evening turned to night and night blurred into the gray

edges of the morning, and that became a watery light that

turned into a bright sun bathing the frosty white morning in

golds and oranges.

She called in to work again, and by the sound of her

incredulous secretary, things were already going to shit.

They’d be worse if she got there and didn’t know a thing about

how to run the place. Two days wasn’t more than most people

took if they were sick, but how much longer could she keep up

the ruse? If she sat down in her desk chair and looked over

everything, would she remember? Would she just know what

to do the same way she knew how to operate the coffeemaker

or knew where and in what order her clothing was going to be

when she walked into her closet?

She still hadn’t called her parents yet. Her brother. She

knew she had a brother. She didn’t have any feelings about