@@.fade-in;You wake up <span class="shaking-text">trembling</span>. <<timed 2s t8n>>You wake up <<linkappend "alone." t8n>> You wonder if the same can be said for [[her.|4]]<</linkappend>><</timed>>
@@@@.fade-in;"Get over it." <<timed 2s t8n>> The lovesick bitch in the mirror just rolls her [[eyes.|5]]<</timed>>
@@@@.fade-in;You greet the day out on the balcony. Check your messages, drink your tea, change your HRT patch, do your <<linkappend "yoga." t8n>> Find refuge in [[routine.|6]]<</linkappend>>
@@@@.fade-in;Today, you'll work from home. Your presentation's less than a week away, and there's so much — too much — to do. It has to be <<linkappend "perfect." t8n>> //You// have to be <<linkappend "perfect." t8n>> Your nose finds the grindstone, and settles in for a [[long|7]] day.<</linkappend>><</linkappend>>
@@<<timed 3s t8n>>Sunset. <<next 2s t8n>>Your door buzzer goes off. <<next 3s t8n>>Blurry-eyed, you press go on the [[intercom.|7.5]]<</timed>>@@.fade-in;"...No." <<timed 2s t8n>>A pain to which you'd hoped to be immune fills up your chest cavity.
<<next>>You turn away without waiting for a reply, afraid of what the sound of her voice will do to your already tenuous [[resolve|NOa]].<</timed>>
@@@@.fade-in;Count to <<linkappend "ten." t8n>> Eager won't do.
<<timed 2s t8n>>"Fine."
<<next>>You sound so harsh to your own ears. What must you sound like to her?
<<next 2s t8n>>You hit the button, marveling at what a fine [[actress|YESa]] you've become.<</timed>><</linkappend>>
@@<div class="final-choice">\
@@.fade-in;<span class="Uzoma">"It's me."</span>@@
<<timed 2s t8n>>@@.fade-in;As if you don't <<linkappend "know." t8n>>
As if that voice isn't imprinted on every recess of your [[mind.|8.5]]@@<</linkappend>><</timed>>
</div>\
@@.fade-in;Uzoma smiles.<<timed 2s t8n>> The words should be tattooed on your skin.<<next>> They should be the name of your biography, and etched into your tombstone.
<<next>>Uzoma smiles and your world upturns.
<<next>>[[Again.|END]]<</timed>>
@@@@.fade-in;You know how this <<linkappend "ends." t8n>> You take your eye off that woman for a second, and she slips <<linkappend "away." t8n>>
You //should// feel proud, not <<linkappend "gutted." t8n>>
Yet your idiot heart wants nothing more than to let her in.
<<timed 2s t8n>>Again. <<next>>And again. <<next>>And [[again.|END]]<</timed>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>>
@@<<timed 2s>>@@.fade-in;<span class="title">[[The End|TITLE]]</span>
@@<</timed>><div id="passages"></div>@@.fade-in;She presses her satiny cheek against yours, and your dream-breath catches in your <<linkappend "dream-throat." t8n>> Perhaps it does in [[reality|2]] as well.<</linkappend>>
@@
<<timed 3s>>@@.fade-in;You dreamt of [[her|1]] again last night.@@<</timed>>@@.fade-in-poem;<span class="Uzoma">"Bonjou, cheri mwen."</span>@@<<timed 2s t8n>> That soft-voiced Kreyòl she inherited from her maman caresses your <<linkappend "ears." t8n>>
You turn, pinning her body beneath yours, and she laughs <<linkappend "delightedly." t8n>>
She's not naked yet, but [[she|3]] will be.<</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</timed>> <div class="final-choice">\
@@.fade-in;"Yes?"
<<timed 2s t8n>><span class="Uzoma">"Hi, Nadia."</span>
<<next 2s t8n>>Oh, [[shit.|8]]<</timed>>
@@
</div>\@@.fade-in;
<span class="title">[[Ebb & Flow|START]]</span>
@@<div class="final-choice">\
@@.fade-in;<span class="Uzoma">"Can I come up?"</span>@@
<<timed 4s>>
@@.fade-in;([[Yes|YES]]) / ([[No|NO]])@@
<</timed>>
</div>\