Morning came in pieces, not all at once.
The first thing that broke the quiet wasn't sunlight. It was Sharon's phone vibrating against the table where she had left it sometime around 3 a.m. The sound dragged across the surface in short bursts, stopping, then starting again like whoever was calling wasn't willing to let it go.
She opened her eyes slowly, still sitting upright on the couch where she had ended up. The laptop was half open in front of her, screen dimmed but still on, rows of data frozen where she had last been working. Her neck hurt when she moved. She ignored it.
The phone kept buzzing.
She reached for it, glanced at the number, then sat up properly before answering.
"Yes."
Her voice came out steady, even though her body hadn't caught up yet.
She listened more than she spoke. A few short responses. Nothing stretched.
"I saw it," she said at some point. "No, there's no statement coming."
Another pause.
"I understand. Send it through the office."
