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The apartment was too quiet.
Too clean.
Adelaide sat at her desk, laptop open but untouched, a dozen tabs blinking on the screen—UNICEF internship portals, WHO deployment updates, a grant application for conflict-zone education work in Sudan. Her eyes scanned the text, but nothing settled. It wasn't about the content. She knew this material better than she knew herself. It was the act of drowning in it that mattered.
Distraction.
That was the point.
Not Monet.
Not her hands. Not her mouth. Not the way she whispered Adelaide's name like it was the only thing she'd ever wanted to say.
Not how Adelaide had wanted it too.
And hated herself for it afterward.
She rubbed her temple and stared down at the email she was drafting, the cursor blinking mockingly.
Dear Dr. Nasrallah,
I'm honored by the opportunity to assist in the Yemen Famine Awareness Campaign this summer. My passion lies in on-the-ground work, particularly focused on trauma education for displaced children...
She stopped typing.
Shut the laptop.
Took a breath that felt too heavy for her lungs.
A knock at the door startled her. Audrey leaned in, waving an oat milk latte like a peace offering.
"You okay?" she asked gently.
Adelaide nodded, lying.
"I'm going to see her today," she added after a long silence.
Audrey raised her brows. "You're sure?"
"No." Adelaide stood up. "But I have to do it anyway."
----
There was something unspoken in the way Monet had been carrying herself lately.
Colder, yes. But off.
She still smiled at the cameras. Still kissed Adelaide's cheek at brunch. Still wore coordinated outfits and captioned her posts like a lovestruck debutante. But underneath it, she was a mess of questions. All of them unanswered. All of them about Adelaide.
She paced her room, clicking through tabloid articles and Gossip Girl threads.
Spotted: A. Kingsley looking flawless in Ferragamo... but her smile doesn't reach her eyes. Trouble in paradise?
She slammed her laptop shut and let out a breathless laugh.
"She used to tell me everything," Monet whispered to herself.
