I should have ignored it. I really, truly should have. From the very first moment that sound reached my ears, I knew I should have turned around, walked away, dropped my things somewhere safe, and pretended that I hadn't heard a single thing. That would have been the sensible choice. The professional choice. The choice that aligned with the person I believed myself to be.
But her voice reached me anyway—clear, unmistakable, impossible to misinterpret—and before logic could catch up to me, curiosity slipped in through the cracks. It didn't rush. It didn't force its way in. It crept, slow and subtle, settling into my chest like a weight I couldn't shake.
I don't know why I looked. Even now, thinking back on it, I wish I hadn't.
But I did.
And when I did, this was what greeted me.
