Accounting was a refuge for those who didn’t want to think about life.

Columns, spreadsheets, reconciliation reports—the main thing was not to get distracted.

But her thoughts kept buzzing around her like persistent flies.

Darius was acting strange.

Not just strange—suspicious.

He had become overly attentive, overly caring.

It was unusual and felt more unsettling than if he had simply been rude or hostile.

On Friday, he bought her flowers, a big bouquet of white and yellow blooms wrapped in crinkly cellophane, “just because.”