-- 00-33-1226-04 Min | Loving Ladies 2024 01 16

“Liar,” Elara murmured, but she reached across the center console and took Mina’s hand. Her fingers were warm. “Thank you. For taking me. For leaving when I needed to leave.”

“No,” Elara said, and her voice was wide awake now, full of that quiet, fierce certainty Mina loved most. “It’s the day you drove all night so I could sleep. It’s the day you remembered my hash brown order. It’s the day we sat in a Waffle House at one in the morning and you looked at me like I was the only person in the world.” Loving ladies 2024 01 16 -- 00-33-1226-04 Min

Mina’s throat tightened. She wasn’t good at big declarations—that was Elara’s domain, the poet, the one who could spin a single moment into a sonnet. But Mina showed love in other ways: the extra blanket in the back seat, the playlist she’d made for the drive, the way she’d silently taken the exit for this rest stop because she remembered Elara once said she loved their hash browns “scattered, smothered, and covered.” “Liar,” Elara murmured, but she reached across the

Elara ordered hash browns. Mina ordered a pecan waffle and a side of bacon. For taking me

End.

And Elara, for once, had actually listened.