Shared Air

The second day began with the smell of coffee and the low sound of a news broadcast drifting from the kitchen.

I came downstairs in the soft clothes I had slept in, hair still loose, and found Maya at the stove scrambling eggs while Adrian stood at the counter with a mug in one hand and his phone in the other. He was already dressed for the day dark trousers, a light gray button-down with the sleeves rolled neatly to the elbows. The morning light coming through the window caught the silver at his temples and the clean line of his jaw. He looked up when I entered,...