Fragments of a Hidden Face

e, my heels clicking softly on the stone floor. The crowd buzzed behind me - laug

e. To fix the cracks I felt forming

I reminded myself. One stran

way he looked at me like I was more

s the skyline. Moments like this, I could almost forget the ache i

g away

ice sent a ripp

held the same steady intensity, but there was a so

exactly?" I counte

m me, maybe. From whatever's got you looking

t softer than I intended.

simply, stepping cl

stead, it unnerved me - because a part

ssing my arms, hiding the

e like he was reading a story I'd never told. "People s

harder than he

lump rising in my throat. "S

a while." He tilted his head. "Let me buy you a

ment, I

this was the night my m

ed, surprising even

the first time in years... I