The café was almost empty during break time, sunlight spilling across the table like a warm golden thread.My hands were wrapped around the hot cup, but what warmed me wasn't the drink at all…It was what had happened earlier.
Nora raised an eyebrow at me with a soft, sly expression.
"Was that… love at first sight?"
I smiled—not a happy smile, but the kind you wear when you don't know how to explain what you're feeling.
"No… I don't think it was love," I said quietly, almost like a confession.
I paused, searching for a word that fit and didn't fit at the same time.
"It felt like… I've known him for a long time.Not normal familiarity—something deeper.As if I remembered him, instead of meeting him.Like my soul turned toward him before my eyes did."
Nora rested her chin on her hand, studying my face.
"Attachment? Attraction?"She tilted her head. "Or maybe your heart just wants something gentle for once?"
I slowly shook my head.
"I don't know.But when he looked at me… it felt like there was a story between us that came before us.Like our meeting wasn't a beginning… but a return."
Silence settled between us—not awkward silence, but the kind shared by two people hearing what isn't spoken aloud.
Then Nora sighed, the lightness fading from her voice.
"Just… be careful.He's engaged.To her."
The word hung between us like a cold blade.
I responded before I could stop myself:
"I know."
But… I hadn't looked at him as her fiancé.Nor as someone I could ever claim.It was just… a moment.
A moment of understanding.And it passed.
I stared at the cup, watching the steam rise slowly.
"But the strange thing is…" I whispered,"Something inside me is still standing there… in that moment."
My mind drifted back—
No longer the noise of employees,but the echo of a table struck hard,and something else trembling in Lilith's eyes.
There had been a flicker.Not anger—something closer to fear.Or recognition.
I turned to Nora abruptly, as if the thought had pulled me out of water.
"Nora… didn't you see it?"
Nora blinked."See what?"
I held my breath before speaking, as if the word itself might break me.
"The butterfly."
Nora let out a small laugh, but it was the kind that tries to protect, not mock.
"Liora… Lilith and a butterfly? Please don't say that. Not even as a joke."
Heat rose to my cheeks.But I knew what I saw.And what I felt when our eyes met.
"No, Nora.I'm sure.She might not have seen the butterfly itself…but she saw something."
Nora was silent.Then she took my hand gently, as if afraid I might slip away.
"Liora… I told you before.You need to see a doctor."
I swallowed hard.
"I don't have the money… or the time."
A pause.Then the question escaped me, bare and unprotected:
"Nora…Do you think I'm…crazy?Like they say?"
Nora looked at me, and there was fear in her eyes.I couldn't tell if it was fear for me…or of me.
She finally spoke, voice heavy:
"You know Lilith could fire you if she finds out about your condition."
I nodded.But I wasn't afraid.
I didn't have space for fear.My mind was fixed on one thing only—Lilith.The tyrant, as they called her.
I spoke slowly, as if speaking to my own reflection:
"It's strange… how a person can change in a moment shorter than a blink."
Nora narrowed her eyes.
"What do you mean?"
I exhaled lightly, pulling the words from somewhere deep:
"When we were all waiting for the new director… I was hopeful, you know?"I actually believed things might get better.
"I saw her through the glass.Wearing a black suit.Her face looked… calm."
I paused.
"But that calmness disappeared the moment she stepped inside."
A quiet moment passed.
"But even then… I didn't give up," I continued."There was something in her eyes.Not anger.Not cruelty."
My gaze fell to my palm—to the place where the butterfly had rested.
"When she looked directly at it… at the light…I felt like I knew her.And that she knew me too.In a way no one else could."
I lifted my head and whispered:
"Lilith didn't see the butterfly.She remembered it."
Nora spoke softly, almost like a hand on my shoulder:
"Liora… do you trust me?"
"Yes. Of course," I answered instantly.
She breathed in slowly.
"Then listen to me.The day after your mother died… the butterfly appeared.Out of nowhere.Is that… reasonable?Does that make sense in the world we live in?"
I lowered my gaze.
"…No."
She squeezed my hand gently, but her voice ached:
"And only you see it, Liora.I am the closest person to you—and I can't see it.So will you trust your eyes alone…or me?"
I hesitated.
A breath escaped me—a breath heavy with an entire year's worth of exhaustion.
"You.Of course you.But…"
Nora cut in gently, firmly:
"But what, Liora?Will you keep reshaping reality to make it feel softer?"
I lifted my head, my voice breaking:
"Her presence… doesn't hurt me, Nora.It keeps me from being alone.And just because you don't see her…doesn't mean she isn't real."
Nora looked at me for a long, quiet moment—the look of someone who loves you,but no longer knows how to save you.
She finally stood,and standing felt like the end of a battle we'd fought many times.
"I love you, Liora…but I can't save you if you want to drown."
I didn't answer.The words were too heavy to carry.
And silence…was the only thing that didn't betray me.