Audience with a Stranger

The coffee shop was quiet. The mid-afternoon lull had settled over the small space like a heavy blanket. A few scattered customers tapped on laptops or whispered into phones. The soft jazz overhead felt almost too loud in the tense silence at the corner table. The smell of espresso, warm milk, and freshly baked pastries filled the air, rich and comforting, yet unbearable for Willa and Jonah.

Willa