The lonely streetlights, orange and warm, cast a faint light onto the deep privacy film of the car window, reflecting only a single somber shadow.
Inside the car, Serena was pressed against Adrian's chest, her back against the steering wheel. She instinctively dodged, leaning back, and immediately two loud honks blared, startling her into a rigid stillness.
Like someone caught in a shameful act, she was as tense as a bowstring, her delicate shoulder blades tensing beneath her clothes.
Serena turned her head to evade, but Adrian cupped her chin with one hand, turning her face back.
"What are you hiding from?"
Serena's hand, holding the lighter, clenched into a fist, trying to push the man in front of her away, but he grabbed her wrist with his large hand.
With pressing force from his fingers, her hand went limp, the five fingers loosening, and the lighter in her right hand fell with a clatter to the floor.
In the cramped space, the air seemed to thicken with tension.
