#Chapter 201: Between Bars

I had been rehearsing what I wanted to say for the last twenty minutes. Something steady and unshakable. But the second I stepped into the observation chamber and saw her leaning against the bars, every line I’d planned fell flat. She looked up at me slowly, her smile smooth and staged, lips parted like she wanted me to remember the way they used to taste. "Hey, stranger," she said, voice thick with false sweetness. The tilt of her head and the practiced softness in her eyes made it obvious, she was trying to get under my skin, because she thought she still could. I didn’t move or speak. I let the silence stretch long enough to feel it, steadying myself with the reminder that this wasn’t her. "You can’t keep me in here forever." "I don’t need forever, just long enough to get you back." She slid her fingers along the bars in a slow, deliberate motion. Her blouse slipped slightly off one shoulder. Every detail of her posture was calculated. She wasn’t trying to connect with me.