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screen.
    “You’re avoiding me.”
    “I’m not avoiding you,” Mariana said halfway through Hannah’s sentence.  Hannah arched one brow and pursed her lips, getting more annoyed by the second.  The clock that everyone complained about, the one that sat behind the counter and ticked away each second like a foghorn, began to grind on Hannah’s nerves.  The odd thing was it never had before.  She found solace in it’s constant, unstoppable rhythm as it counted the seconds, just like the rose-gold watch around her wrist.  It kept the world around her in check.  It was…Hannah didn’t know how to explain it.
    “It sounds like you’re avoiding me,” Hannah said.  She dropped her eyes to her feet in hopes of playing to Mariana’s mothering side.  “I don’t understand.”
    “You wouldn’t,” Mariana replied.  Hannah had to look up at the woman that had used such a harsh tone.  It felt like a flinch, like Mariana had just threatened to hit her and Hannah had no choice but to move away.  Mariana kept her eyes on the computer as she continued.  “I’m sorry but I can’t talk to you right now.  Everyone is talking about… that , and you .”
    “Me?” Hannah asked innocently.  She knew the truth.  She knew what this town now thought of her, but she didn’t really care.  In fact, she found herself a little elated at the idea of being on so many people’s minds.  She was an intrusive thought they loved to hate.
    A tingle ran through Hannah as she thought of an entire town thinking of her.  Her hands began to shake in wonder at what people might be saying, actually saying.  Not the expected unified gasps and pullbacks that Hannah knew they were doing when they heard the news.  When they heard of what she did to protect their little town from a nefarious criminal.  To save them from suffering at his hands.  It was becoming clear after the police visit that they didn’t consider her a victim—not the police, not the people she grew up with, and apparently not Mariana.  She wasn’t sure she herself was thinking of herself in the same way, either.  Shaking out of her head Hannah raised her eyes to Mariana.  “So what are you saying?”
    “That I can’t talk right now.”  Mariana went back to the computer, her fingers typing away at some official report that could always wait until later.  She paused and glanced over at something on the desk before picking up a white box with red ribbon wrapped around it.  “This was left for you in the back.”
    Hannah looked at the box and the elegant cursive her name was written in.  Her eyes then went back to Mariana, who kept facing the computer.  “Is it—”
    “I don’t know who it’s from.”
    “Then throw it away.”
    Mariana finally looked over and nodded.  She picked up the box and threw it with a little too much force into the trashcan that Hannah knew was hidden at her feet.
    Hannah waited for a full ten seconds for Mariana to look back at her.  For a wince or a twitch, a simple head turn to signal that Mariana really did want to talk and this was just pressure from management.  After all, they had just fired Hannah.  But Mariana wasn’t giving her any hope that this wasn’t the end of a lifelong friendship.  There was a pain in her chest that pinched and made it hard to breathe.  Mariana was telling her that they couldn’t be friends anymore.  Just like that.  Hannah stared for another moment but Mariana didn’t give way as she normally did.
    Hannah nodded.  “All right then.”  She spun on her heel and left, only giving the revolving door a light shove. 
    As Hannah walked away from the hotel it seemed like she was walking away from something she had known her entire life.  Mariana felt like a weight around her neck, the kind that kept her grounded and in place.  An anchor of sorts.  Her cheeks burned with emotion, not embarrassment, but anger at making a scene in the lobby.  Even though only one or two