Alex slumped opposite Haley in the impossible café, his hands quivering despite every muscle he commanded to stillness. She appeared exactly as she had during their first encounter at the university library: chestnut hair cascading through warm amber light, emerald eyes that sparkled with what had seemed genuine fascination, that careful smile which had convinced him someone might actually cherish him without calculating his worth in organs and tissue.
The coffee cup before him exhaled familiar steam, rich with the scent of Colombian beans and vanilla cream. Alex refused to touch it. The memory of that final night crashed through his consciousness like shattered glass: the bitter aftertaste coating his tongue, his limbs growing leaden with betrayal, her clinical voice explaining that his kidneys commanded higher prices than his dreams.
