By the time I got home, the sky was already painted orange, and the edges of the clouds were starting to bleed purple.
I watched the colors shift from my window as I dropped my bag by the desk and sat down.
The room felt dimmer than usual.
I dropped my bag, kicked off my shoes, and wandered into the kitchen.
Dinner was simple—leftover curry and rice I reheated in the microwave.
I ate standing up, staring at nothing, my thoughts still caught somewhere between the quiet meeting room and the way Nakashima said the word 'lanterns.'
After rinsing my plate and setting it in the drying rack, I returned to my room.
I didn't bother turning on the main light—just the desk lamp.
The bulb flickered once before settling into a soft, warm glow.
I pulled out my notes from the meeting and laid them out on the desk.
Nakashima's handwriting filled half the page—quick and slanted, full of arrows and sketches and half-baked ideas.
It was messy.
But kind of alive.
I didn't realize I was smiling until I caught my reflection in the darkened window.
It was strange.
I'd worked with people before. Group projects happened all the time.
But this felt different.
Maybe it was the way she listened. Maybe it was the way she made it easy to respond.
Maybe I just wasn't used to being asked.
I turned to my PC and opened it out of habit. Clicked past my folders. Opened the Chatterfield app.
The Quiet Room still had just the two of us in it.
[MidnightEcho]: met someone interesting today
I didn't expect a reply right away.
But a few seconds later, the cursor blinked and a message popped up.
[ChattyBreeze]: same here. wasn't expecting it either
I stared at the words.
It was such a simple exchange. Vague.
But I could feel the mood through the screen.
[MidnightEcho]: weird how the right person can just appear
[ChattyBreeze]: or maybe we were just looking up at the same time
I didn't know what to say to that. But it made me think.
About timing. About chance.
About Nakashima across the table today.
And the girl on the other side of the screen.
Were they different?
Was it possible they weren't?