15 January<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Low clouds. Rain. Grey. A flash of lightning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She held a little shadow in her hand, from the curtains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then drew them. Back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I\u2019m going to walk today,\u2019 she said. Eyes on the tree outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was blank and barren and gave nothing away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bare feet on the cold wood. Shiny sink with a single implement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coffee. Warm hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They looked at her. The lilies. Sprightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018It\u2019s a shame,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018It\u2019s a shame I\u2019m not ill today.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Yes,\u2019 they said. \u2018It\u2019s a shame.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The shower was too warm, then too cold, then just perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Face first, then hair, then body. Then minutes in silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The coffee shop was quiet too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jack came back. She just wrote \u2018ass.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He gave her the finger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019d be back tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then he came. And she should have felt something, but she didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Ass?\u2019 He asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Yes,\u2019 she said. \u2018Black coffee?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Indeed,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She made it. He took it. Then turned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And turned again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And turned again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just as well, she thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chapter 3<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":748,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-serial-book-january-june"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherryblossomhouse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherryblossomhouse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherryblossomhouse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherryblossomhouse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherryblossomhouse.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=747"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cherryblossomhouse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":751,"href":"https:\/\/cherryblossomhouse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747\/revisions\/751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherryblossomhouse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherryblossomhouse.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherryblossomhouse.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherryblossomhouse.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}