Caught in the Act

VANESSA

The restaurant was dimly lit, the kind of place where no one paid attention to anyone else. I sat in a booth near the back, my fingers drumming anxiously on the table. The faint hum of conversations around me blended with the clatter of dishes. I wasn’t in the mood for small talk or pleasantries. My mind was spinning, my nerves stretched thin.

Declan arrived ten minutes late, sliding into