The second before I was in Halifax, absently coding for Logos as I watched the woman on the pad next to me leave my life forever. We had had the real thing once. Somehow some kind of submerged emotional fault line had shifted and split us asunder. I felt that things would have worked out if we wanted them to, but she didn't. She wanted her freedom and that was now something that didn't include me.

All I could do was stand there like an idiot, reliving the humiliation of having to reach her and feeling my hug fail to connect. Words failed me. My most faithful allies had deserted and I mutely watched her link away. With the caress of her perfume still in my head I swiped at the go and as soon as I linked through I knew I was in trouble.