{"id":24173,"date":"2025-12-14T19:24:38","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T19:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=24173"},"modified":"2025-12-14T19:24:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T19:24:38","slug":"24173","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=24173","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

That momentary, barely perceptible pause before he said \u201csurprise\u201d was what gave him away.<\/p>\n

Kiana took the mug and sipped the coffee.<\/p>\n

It was sweet, even though she hadn\u2019t taken sugar in her coffee in about five years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s delicious.\u201d<\/p>\n

He left for the kitchen, whistling something cheerful, and Kiana remained sitting there, looking out the bedroom window at the gray apartment buildings and the faint outline of downtown in the distance.<\/p>\n

Outside, a fine October drizzle was falling, gray and tiresome, just like her growing anxiety.<\/p>\n

At work that day in the small construction company\u2019s office on the edge of their midwestern city, she tried to focus on the numbers.<\/p>\n

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That momentary, barely perceptible pause before he said \u201csurprise\u201d was what gave him away. Kiana took the mug and sipped the coffee. It was sweet, even though she hadn\u2019t taken sugar in her coffee in about five years. \u201cThank you,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s delicious.\u201d He left for the kitchen, whistling something cheerful, and Kiana remained…<\/p>\n

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