FORGING AHEAD

AUTUMN'S POV

I threw myself into work, the buzz of the senatorial office filling the space Brenda had left behind. Reports, policies, endless meetings—none of it could distract me from her for long. Every time I sat still for a moment, her name crept into my thoughts like an unwanted guest. But I could not allow myself to think about her. I could not let myself get lost in the hope that there was something more than a distant admiration and her words of how we could not be still rung loud in my ears.

I needed the distraction—the controlled chaos of politics, the constant phone calls, the paperwork that never seemed to end. Anything was better than dwelling on feelings that could never be reciprocated. Work was all I had now. It was safer than love.