Fb View Profile Online

The profile loaded in a crisp, cruel instant. His face, three years older and thirty pounds lighter, smiled from a beach in Thailand. Beside him, a woman with sun-bleached braids and a silver nose ring rested her chin on his shoulder.

She jabbed the screen, but Facebook, in its infinite indifference, offered no undo. Only the mute, damning permanence of a view . He would see it. Not a notification—worse. A quiet little breadcrumb trail of her loneliness, left on his “Visitors” tab for him to find at 2 a.m. when he couldn’t sleep. fb view profile

But David would know. He would see her name— Elaine Park —hovering there like a ghost at a window, and he would remember everything: the last fight, the slammed door, the way she’d said “Don’t ever talk to me again” and meant it, until tonight, when her thumb betrayed her. The profile loaded in a crisp, cruel instant

But she knew better. She had checked her Visitors tab three times tonight. And so would he. She jabbed the screen, but Facebook, in its

Elaine’s breath stopped. She didn’t know her thumb had moved again until she saw the gray bar appear at the top of her screen:

Elaine hadn’t meant to click it. Her thumb, slick with sweat from a too-warm coffee cup, slipped as she scrolled.

“No, no, no—”