The instant she mentioned Seattle, I understood. It hit me right then.
Footsteps quiet on the worn floorboards. Offers waited inside thin envelopes - Boston first, then Seattle. Spoke without looking up. Names only. Places without weight.
Yet silence spoke louder than her words. What stayed unspoken weighed heavier.
That city on the water. Daniel stayed there.
Her eyes stayed on the floor. A pause in her voice. I saw how she pretended it was nothing. Words came slow, too careful.
It mattered.
It hit me then - Seattle would win her vote. The training there wasn't stronger. Just the pull of his presence tugged at a quiet corner of her heart.
Daniel.
Always Daniel.
Sitting down at home was what I did next. The thing stayed right there beside me.
Falling out with Brooklyn felt quiet somehow. Amy came into my life after that - gentle, straightforward, a different kind of person entirely. Things moved slow. There were no big expectations hanging around.
