The victory was a quiet thing that settled over them on Sunday. There were no more enemies to fight. There were only choices to make.
Kofi woke up first. Nina was still asleep, her arm thrown across his chest. He looked at the ceiling of their apartment. 'We won. Now what?' The quiet felt strange. It was heavier than the chaos.
He slid out of bed carefully and went to the kitchen. He started making coffee, the routine a comfort. The apartment was theirs. They paid rent. They bought groceries. It was a real life, not a temporary arrangement.
Nina came into the kitchen an hour later, wrapped in a blanket. She took the mug of coffee he offered.
"Did you sleep?"
"A little. I kept thinking about that board meeting. It feels like a dream."
"It wasn't. We have the dojo. We have a new budget. We have a lot more work to do."
"That's the part I'm worried about."
