S PERS

e Karen teetered on the brink of spontaneous combustion, it was th

e surrounding chaos, he stood motionless, emanating raw power that flowed off his broad shoulders in

exuded, along with the intense and ominous look in his eyes. Interes

of the music and the ambient chatter of the crowd were replaced by an oppressive silence. It felt as if he had twisted my thou

my entire body had shut down, panic surging up my constricted throat, drowning out any trace of rati

arty. Suddenly, a brief respite allowed me to recall the simple act of breathing. The music flooded back into my ears, and I inhaled deeply, attempting to steady

frustration cutting through the air like a knife. My hand instinctively so

rie pleaded urgently. "It w

lt like a tingling buzz at the back of my head. It happened right as Valerie's words turned into a weird

tarily returned to the enigmatic gentleman. Yet, to my bewilderment, he was n

enough of you two," Karen dec

guishing the sparks that the heated gaze of the

s inches from my face. "Are you

r irate bo

or, now!" Karen's bright blue eyes looked

was going on, really,

id dress as she walked away, putting her mask back on jus

le I processed the news. "I ca

ing along with my hopes for a more

o afford the cup of coffee essential for staying alert during my shift at my day job, which loomed less

meet the relentless barrage of bills or escape the persistent reminders from my bank about overdue paym

her swipe a couple of mushroom

ed between bites of partially chewed food.

mushroom cap and popped it into my mouth

ary rebellion with a mischievous g

I savoured the freshness of snow crab, so tender and sweet it resembled a candied cloud,

a third, and

g her lips into a wicked sm

another and stuffing my guil

ing the different regions of my tongue and reacting

Val hooted. "We should get a

m spraying her with masticated food. "You hear

as n

ray of oysters and ran. I'm not entirely sure why, but

e salacious sounds of the hallway. "Come o

d me a couple of the super-secret passageways in the walls. They'll never even know we'

f my lungs (and my curiosity) as

ks, but they're wrong. According to my doctors, my anxiety actually triggered the excruciating choking f

successfully, gulping to sav

estie was pointless. She was about to get us in way worse

ncline while I slowed to yank my inhaler from my pocket. The quick puff of me

ang from too far away. "You at least need to see

what she'd said for fear