Nine Years Gone

night. The air was thick with silence. I had ma

across the table. A

er tone all business. "It' s simple. We spl

s I had wiped away, whose nightmares I had soothed. Now she was t

ox on the counter. It was from a luxur

r of hope inside me. Maybe a gradua

omfortably. "Oh.

me s

Inside, nestled on a velvet cushion, was a watch. It w

uickly. "For Julian. He' s a mentor a

ical blow. Julian. She' d mentioned him a few

hed over me. I looked

at' s my sh

nked.

For my work shi

umbling with her fork. "I... I don' t know,

e had never cared enough to look at the tag. She sa

th him, aren' t you?

crifice as moral blackmail. It was a partnership. The terms are over. And yes, Ju