The first week back moved quickly, faster than Willow expected.
It was not that she imagined the world would pause for her return. Still, part of her had quietly hoped that the pace of things might soften for a little while, as if the city itself might notice that she had just come from somewhere gentler. Somewhere where the air carried water instead of traffic. Somewhere where the hours passed without anyone asking anything from her.
Instead, life resumed with its familiar momentum.
Morning traffic returned. Calendar reminders stacked themselves neatly across her phone. Emails accumulated overnight and waited patiently to be answered. Meetings began exactly when they were scheduled and ended only when someone checked the time and realized another meeting had already started somewhere else.
