Jerica buried herself in her work that morning, unwilling to let her mind wander elsewhere. The endless files and records were her refuge, a place where her thoughts couldn't betray her.
Harold had shown up, as if nothing had happened the night before, strolling past her desk like their conversation had been swept away in the night. She ignored him. She hoped he had finally accepted that it was over between them. It seemed like he had, and she was mildly happy about it—if only because she didn't care anymore.
He had crossed a line that couldn't be uncrossed. Yes, Harold had backed off when she demanded it, but just thinking he could ask such a thing… How far had he allowed himself to drift into his delusions?
Jerica's task for the day involved digitizing old records. The previous clerk had left a mess, and while it wasn't required for her to clean it up, she couldn't bear the thought of old records getting lost in the shuffle.
