I set my pen back in the wooden tray.

Brenda clicked her fountain pen cap closed and placed the master lease file in my hands.

A waiter set a plate of sea bass in front of me, and Samantha reached across Brandon for the microphone.

Three hundred guests sat under the crystal chandeliers.

The room smelled of lilies and butter.

Evelyn’s hand rested on my sleeve.

The auburn hairpiece sat behind her ear, and she kept touching it with one finger.

“You haven’t eaten,” I said.