Chapter 138

#5

Eli’s POV

The 6 train smells like the end of a long day and Eli is intimately familiar with both.

He gets a seat somewhere between 86th and 77th, which never happens this time of evening. He takes it as the universe’s one act of generosity toward him today and drops into it and lets his head fall back against the glass. His bag is between his feet, his blazer is folded across his lap because wearing it on the commute home feels like a lie he doesn’t have the energy to maintain, and the car rattles and shudders through the dark tunnel the way it always does, indifferent to everyone aboard.

Two hours and fourteen minutes, door to door, on a good day. This was not a good day.

He thinks about Lucia Ellis for approximately three stops and then stops, because thinking about Lucia is a w