The Space Between Names 🗝️
Two strangers. One conversation. One truth hiding in plain sight. The café sat on the corner like it had always been there, stubborn against time. Scratched wooden tables. A chalkboard menu written by someone who believed optimism could be conveyed through handwriting. Rain pressed softly against the windows, not dramatic, just persistent, as if the sky was thinking out loud. Mara arrived early, which annoyed her. She hated arriving early. It gave her too much time to think, and thinking had a habit of turning into regret if left unattended. She ordered black coffee, no sugar, no ceremony, and chose the table farthest from the door. She told herself it was coincidence. She told herself many things. When the door opened again, the bell chimed with that apologetic jingle, and Evan stepped inside carrying the weather with him. Rain clung to his jacket. His hair looked like it had lost a short argument with gravity. He scanned the room once, then again, and smiled when his eyes land...