Chapter 3: The Return
The doorbell rang, and I already knew who it was. Faith walked in, her expression unreadable this time.
She didn't waste words. She went straight to the shelf and picked up the same charger.
"How much today?" she asked, her tone sharp but curious.
I didn't flinch. "Eighteen dollars."
She raised an eyebrow, as if testing me. "Seventeen?"
I looked her in the eye, my voice calm, almost cold. "No discounts today."
For a moment, silence hung between us. I thought she would leave again, but instead, she laughed softly, shaking her head.
"You're stubborn," she said, handing me the money anyway.
That laugh stayed with me. It wasn't mocking. It was… amused. As if she found something interesting in my refusal to bend.
From that day, Faith kept coming back. Sometimes to buy something, sometimes just to stand there and ask questions. About the shop. About me. About life.
And slowly, without me realizing it, the quiet walls I had built around myself began to crack.