THE SPACE BETWEEN US

-until I realized how m

-

. The walls don't echo because no one's allowed to make noise. Phones stay on vibrate.

s like working at

nding. High-pay

place where careers were m

brid title they'd come up with-I didn't complain about the hours or the expectations. I was 28, singl

whose contacts were worth more than your college degree. He had built his empire with c

imes

. At least in

he could walk into a boardroom and bend the air around him. It was intoxicating

his wife was at the c

the guest list, probably an oversight from the overworked HR

afternoon: "Need you at the gala. Bring

hellos, no context.

I w

owned planes, who talked about the market like it was a personal pet they could train. I stayed near the edge of t

n, she

ll

wi

aw her. The way the energy shifted.

yone else. Her hair was up, her neck bare, her eyes watchful. She kissed Daniel on the cheek and sm

ething

moved. Like someone performing a part they'd memorize

hat night. Just a

couldn't tell if

rived unexpectedly, sitting beside Daniel like a fi

ged her presence be

my wife,

th. No possessivenes

gs. But I caught her looking out the window more

casual curiosity. She was just a woman who ha

ame the la

Fixing decks, prepping briefs, recalculating num

too. But he wasn't

ours-"calls," he'd say. "Me

tion it. It w

he'd be back later to go over projections. I stayed behind, hunched o

15, the elev

ed it w

was

apped around her, no makeup, hair loosely tied. She looked like someo

sight of me. "I thought Da

awkwardly. "Said he'd return to go o

head. "No, t

she did

o the window, looking

ou been working

five

. "Longer

rised me.

close for very long. He says it's about ef

w how to res

added after a moment. "That

ow," I said

't say things

nded on me felt... precise. Like she was seeing

e usual kind of person who

yebrow. "What

d power to defi

t my shoes. "Maybe I haven't

, the kind that had s

was a

you know," she said, glancing at the lapto

g to earn the ri

lightly, like she was

ed he doesn't respect boundaries-he just notices who'

harder tha

eant. Or maybe I did, an

ight, she said somet

ho listens closely. That

it. Not flirty. Not casu

e line wasn't as far away