Mia POV
I won Elena over with a plant.
It is not a strategy exactly; it starts as an observation. On day five, I notice the small pot on the kitchen windowsill, a basil plant that is yellowing at the edges and drooping in the middle, the specific droop of something that has been watered too much and drained too little. Someone put it there because they wanted it to grow, and then loved it wrong.
I wait until Elena is nearby and I say, without making it a big thing: "The basil needs less water and more sun. The windowsill is too shaded. If you move it to the breakfast room, it'll recover in about a week."
She looks at the plant. She looks at me.
She says nothing.
The next morning, the basil is in the breakfast room.
Two days after that, Elena sets my coffee down, and instead of walking straight back to the kitchen, she pauses and says: "It's already greener." Like we are continuing a conversation. Like we have been talking this whole time, and this is just the next sentence.
