A week passed in a blur.
Eliana filled it with long walks through Montpellier, rediscovering the city with Elliot and Maria at her side. They wandered through narrow streets lined with shops she barely remembered, stopped for coffee at little cafés where Maria insisted on ordering for all of them, and once even spent an afternoon by the river, watching the light stretch gold across the water.
At night, she called the group in Paris.
Luca's dramatic retellings of his day, Renee's sharp humor, Valeria's warm teasing. It made her day.
She and Nicky hadn't spoken since that night in the restaurant. Sometimes the distance felt like relief, like she could finally breathe without the weight of him. Other times it gnawed at her, leaving her staring at her phone in the dark, wondering if he was staring at his too.
And then the week was gone, and Dana's wedding day arrived.
