Beneath the Shades

ri

my heart still somew

maybe too perfectly diced, and the pancakes a

n I hit

am I supposed to let them k

ell to ring. No sta

ore than my entire neighborhood, with a sta

like the walls

y d

my overcoo

myself, wiping my hands on a towel.

piral into full-on

tst

se

n they

of

walks

are... d

ike he's co

r as he passes, subtle but there.

staring and sna

people do weird thin

and if the first man is cool wa

I don't understand - Russian? Italian? Something s

carved out of marble:

oat go

one makes the air feel heavier. Like the walls a

and pulls out a chair, his mo

through invisible wi

er that category because my brain is too busy s

is call with a sharp wor

just a glance, but it

Pier

sees t

says, voice clippe

and try

thanks.

ast me, dismissing me li

- I'm the help her

ilts his head slightly as

urve just

murmurs. "Thank

e - soft but firm - ma

te t

are not doing

th way too much focus, like pancakes are sudd

y s

d

- slicing his food neatly, like he

st, no wasted motion, already glanci

tching my towel and trying t

he energy in this room

o

and stran

distant, like a sto

d

andered into this silent power pl

ice too high, and start backing toward the k

w what's go

ove the wa

s crackling even though no

I'm suddenly very a

ore complicated than j

d hear their low voices fade behind me, I let

chest fe

g for something and I

e at th

ore lunch prep

hone

pass out right here between the marb

any sane pe

or I spotted earlier an

it's... b

t from a cozy backyard, but in that sharp,

ways that wind like veins through the green. Flowers I

ittle, breat

ent - fresh, cool, slight

ery beat of my he

onto it, letting my head

ive mi

end I'm totally cool with feeding two men who clearly ow

universe can't even giv

footsteps on

pped. Comi

ght just as he

cold

e dark eyes and

low growl as he speaks rapid-fire

me as he walks past,

o I

ds the call with a sharp wo

tter horror -

d on me like

Asse

e doesn

back layers I didn

the name like it's a word he m

ali

lf. On my

mm

esn't

t even

es between us,

air goes still when

roat, despera

some air before I start o

r - before he says, "No one t

nk. "

it's

is flat

says carries the

sliding into the pocket

te - but there's somethin

't need to show his teeth

private homes b

"Restaurants. Cafés.

"And you thought th

, heat rising

it pays well. And I cook.

ress into

sed and annoy

ers. "You cook. T

f he's mocking

be

ring my shoulders.

beat of

mine, and for a second

like that -

oment neve

back to being b

says coolly, turning to

en he'

ready back at his ear as he barks out or

reath and slump bac

e

or gettin