Willow knew something was different the moment she stepped through the lobby doors.
Not the building. The building was the same. Glass, steel, controlled calm. The kind of polished restraint that did not invite emotion. But the people were not.
The receptionist looked up and smiled, not the polite curve of lips that came with protocol, but a real smile that reached her eyes. Someone passing by slowed just enough to hold the door for her without being asked. Another employee nodded and said good morning, clearly and deliberately, as if it mattered that she heard it.
Willow slowed her steps., hesitating for half a second, caught off guard by the warmth of it. By the fact that no one looked tense. No one looked hurried or wary. The air itself felt lighter, less compressed.
This had not happened before.
