Chapter 41
Chapter 41: A New York Encounter
By the spring of 2032, Anna’s career had taken another massive leap. She had been selected as the lead designer for a sustainable tech campaign, and her face was featured in a small profile piece in a major design magazine.
One evening, after leaving a gallery launch in Manhattan, Anna walked toward the subway. The city was alive with spring rain, yellow cabs splashing through the puddles.
As she descended the steps of the station, a voice called out from the shadows near the turnstiles. "Anna."
Anna stopped, her hand tightening on her umbrella. The voice was familiar, but it lacked the frantic rage it had in London. It sounded hollow, exhausted, and desperately weak.
She turned slowly. It was Sabrina.
She looked fifty years old, though she was barely forty-two. Her clothes were clean but cheap, likely from a charity bin, and she was wearing a uniform from a commercial cleaning franchise.
"I’m not breaking the order," Sabrina said quickly, holding her hands up, her eyes wide with fear. "I know the distance rule. I’m just... I work the night shift cleaning the office building next to your studio. I saw your face on the magazine display today."
May you like
"What do you want, Sabrina?" Anna asked, her voice steady, cool, and completely unbothered. The fear was entirely gone; Anna was looking at an inconvenience, not a threat.
"I just wanted to see if you were real," Sabrina muttered, a tear cutting through her cheap foundation. "Every month, they take a quarter of my check. I live in a shared basement in Queens. I scrub toilets for executives who are younger than me. And every time I look at my pay stub, I see your name. Anna Davis. You're my entire life now, Anna. My punishment is making sure you have money."
