Candid-v3 (2027)

Lena’s phone buzzed.

She just sat there, at the last table by the window, while the rain kept thinking and the girl kept crying and the man in the blue jacket finally walked away, kicking nothing at all. candid-v3

She looked down.

The door to the café opened. A gust of wet wind slapped the back of her neck. She didn’t turn around. She already knew it wasn’t him. His footsteps were heavier. These were soft, hesitant—someone looking for an outlet or a bathroom. Lena’s phone buzzed