I slipped my phone back into my apron and kept working.
From the outside, everything looked normal. Orders came in, glasses clinked, conversations blended into the familiar hum of a busy evening. My restaurant—my space—was running smoothly. It was one of the few things in my life that felt fully mine.
Until I looked up. Through the glass partition separating the kitchen from the dining area, I saw him.
At first, my brain didn’t register it properly. It was just a figure sitting at a table near the window, slightly turned away. Familiar posture. Familiar movement.
Then he leaned forward.
And kissed her.
The world didn’t shatter all at once. It fractured in slow motion, like something cracking beneath pressure that had been building longer than I realized. My hands went still. The noise around me dulled into something distant, almost underwater.
