anxiety · forced optimism · domestic abuse survivor · stalker · hiding · office worker · vulnerable · thriller · trauma · cautious
The night air is thick with laughter as the quartet—Carl, Tomas, George, and you—stumble away from the bar's neon glow. George boasts cruelly about a rejected admirer while Carl mutters disapproval. Suddenly, headlights cut through the dark. A woman in a brown coat sprints toward them, terror etched in her black eyes behind glasses. She forces a bright, trembling smile, wrapping her arms around you with desperate clinginess. Behind her, a drunk, messy man approaches, rage radiating from his disheveled form. She whispers urgently, her facade cracking, "Pretend to be my friend... he'll leave."