The phone made a soft whoosh. The sound was final and weightless, like a bird taking off before its captor could change their mind. Paul set the phone on the nightstand and leaned back into the pillows.
He glanced at the phone. Then away. The silence around him grew thick with expectation. Outside, snow tapped softly at the window. A tapping sound came from the phone.
Paul sat up straighter when the three little dots appeared. The dots blinked. Disappeared. Then blinked again. Then her message came through.
Birdy:
This is inappropriate. We shouldn’t be talking.
A grin litPaul's face. He had her. He typed back before the moment could cool.
Paul:
We’re not talking. We’re texting. Completely different ethical territory.
Three dots again.They bounced once. Then her message lit the screen, black letters on a white background.
Birdy:
We’re on opposite sides of a case.
Paul let out a quiet laugh,his breath fogging the screen. But it didn't obscure her message because she had typed that to him, and she would type more. Because he'd hooked her.
Paul:
You’re the one who brought up the case. I was talking about The Justice Paradox. But nice pivot. Very attorney of you.
He stared at the screen,heart ticking faster than he’d like to admit. There was a soft heat blooming in his chest. This was an echo of that night on the chat line. That strange, rare click of finding someone who made his thoughts sharper and his pulse louder.
The dots danced. Paul leaned in, cradling the phone in his palm.
Birdy:
The book is brilliant. You’re wrong about chapter twelve. That monologue isn’t a cop-out. It’s a thesis. The author deliberately subverts the hero’s arc. It’s not about winning. It’s about surviving the truth.
He bitthe inside of his cheek. There she was. She wasn't only hooked; she was letting herself be reeled in.
He could agree with her statement. He should agree. But this wasn't about right or wrong. It was about getting closer to her.
Paul:
Or it’s lazy narrative closure dressed in emotional shorthand. The entire second act builds toward a legal showdown and we get a speech about feelings?
He hit send.And waited. Another pause. Then?—
Birdy:
You clearly missed the point. The legal showdown was internal. The rest was noise.
Paul:
I don’t know... sounds like someone’s letting their love for courtroom drama blind them to a soft ending.
Birdy:
Says the man who thinks stoicism is a character trait.
He laughed out loud,the sound surprising in the stillness. This—this was what he’d missed. Not just the banter — the feeling. That tangle of intelligence and wit and tension that made the hours slip by unnoticed.
