The second day after Shawn Allen was locked up, Zoey Allen went to see Selena Flores.
Selena made her a cup of osmanthus tea. Beside the teapot were two saucers—one filled with sugar, the other with salt.
The osmanthus tea Selena made could be enjoyed two ways, with either sugar or salt.
She said, "The one on the right is sugar, and the one on the right is salt."
Zoey added sugar to her tea and gently stirred with a spoon. "Yale also likes his osmanthus tea sweet."
The fragrance of the osmanthus was enticing, and the brewed tea had a light brownish-yellow tint. Zoey sniffed the aroma.
"What about Asher?" she tasted the tea and asked Selena, "Does Asher also put sugar in his osmanthus tea?"
Selena added a little salt to her own cup, "He's like me, preferring the salty osmanthus tea."
Zoey put down her cup. "Selena, do they seem like two different people to you?"
"In the beginning, they did."
"And now?"
Selena did not answer.
She was very confused and needed time.
