The morning passed in lazy comfort. After yesterday’s temples and laughter, Natasha spent the early hours journaling in the courtyard, sipping coffee, and replaying fragments of conversation that seemed to hum beneath the surface.
Around mid-afternoon, she decided to go for a walk, when she saw Mark and Linda again. They decided to find a café, tucked away out of sight. They found one half-hidden by vines, the music was soft and jazzy. It was the kind of place that felt untouched by time. They ordered stronger drinks, and one turned into two, then three. The rain began again outside, gentle but steady, wrapping the world in a hush.
They talked about everything and nothing: travel stories, regrets, tiny triumphs. The laughter was easy — maybe a little too easy — and there were moments when Natasha caught Linda’s gaze lingering longer than before.
When Mark excused himself, the table grew quieter. The sound of rain filled the gap he left. Linda leaned forward, her voice softer now, her expression open in a way that felt both familiar and new.
“Do you ever feel,” she asked, “like you meet someone you were supposed to find — even if it makes no sense? Natasha, we’re away from home, and only have a short time left before we go our separate ways. Plus, I’m a little tipsy, so I must excuse me for being bold.”
Natasha didn’t answer right away. The air between them felt weightless, like a held breath. A thousand possible replies drifted through her mind, but none would come.
Linda smiled — small, uncertain, but sincere — and then she reached under the table, her fingertips softly brushing Natasha’s inner thigh. Natasha looked surprised but disgusted. The gesture was simple, but something in it carried a charge that neither of them could ignore. Natasha now clearly understood Linda’s intentions.
When Mark returned, the moment folded back into the rhythm of conversation, though the air still shimmered faintly with whatever had just passed between them.
That night, Natasha wrote only one line in her journal:
“Some silences speak louder than any confession.”
