Where Concrete Daisies Bloom

& Vance Global was a

wall of icy profes

a made sure

ce, all designer clothes

rafting table, her e

t you get tired of the

enough for nearby colleagues

my pens, or "borrow" a specific reference book she kne

a meeting" or would simply look the other wa

in power, kept their distance. Wh

d down, count

small community center I' d designed in my spare time – one

ocused on sustainability and s

t up, feigni

ambitious, M

ual charity gala next week. Very high profile. All the b

present this? As a sort of... farewell.

oo bright, her

t like

about leaving early without "sign

lly processed yet, and I

ession, could be my ticket out,

think about

d sweetly. "Opportunities like this d

reed. What other

d. The ballroom glittered wi

like an imposter among the cout

et up my presentation. T

introduction, her voice dripping with false w

the podium, my

esign is for a comm

remote for t

lly rendered exterior

flashed onto the hu

ard, frizzy-haired, at some frat p

ppled throu

. I fumbled wi

ic

r a fight with Ethan, years ago. A pri

ic

ments, silly faces, interspersed with cruel, childish captions:

uld feel hundreds of eyes on

... Ethan had given her these photos.

ly blank mask, but I saw the slight tighten

floor to swal

erialized at my elb

need to co

ariah, the laughter of th

remoniously into

ll, gasping for breath, sham

tartled me. "A

suit, his name tag reading "D

e, concerned. He' d

cruel," he

ater, a quiet place in a sm

didn' t pry. He just sho

o Queens, the silence in

ssion was a tiny lig