The Invisible Tether

POV: Maren

I walked away from his booth with steps that felt mechanical. My legs were heavy, as if I waded through wet cement instead of gliding across the scuffed linoleum of the diner floor. I forced my lips into a bright, plastic smile for the other oblivious customers, nodding at the elderly couple at table seven, pretending my mind wasn't reeling from what just happened.

*That,* my inner wo