Lauren leaned back and stared at the ceiling.
The cracks in the paint above the light fixture looked like rivers on a map.
“What if it falls through?” she asked.
“Then it falls through.”
“What if he gets one look at me in an office and changes his mind?”
“Then he wasn’t worth saying yes to.”
“What if I freeze? What if I’ve forgotten everything? What if I’m not the person I used to be?”
Denise smiled sadly.
“Oh, honey.”
She held up the flower.
“You’re not the person you used to be. None of us get to stay that version. The better question is whether the person you are now still knows how to work, learn, and keep going.”
Lauren didn’t answer.
Because yes.
Painfully yes.
She did.
She had just forgotten that survival counted as skill too.
The landlord came at 9:03.
This time the knock was exactly what Lauren expected.
