Chapter 40 Sort Through

• In the apartment Nadia shared with Madison, her bedroom window faced the back of the building, straight into the window of another apartment directly across the narrow alleyway. She usually kept the blinds closed, yet even open, only minimal natural light managed to infiltrate the alley and filter its way into her bedroom. Which was fine.
• Nadia had two bright floor lamps, one on either side of the room. When she bought them, the guy at the hardware store assured her they'd be a close substitute for natural light. He'd been more or less honest. Nadia also had a table lamp on her nightstand and a set of string lights that hung along the room's perimeter.
• But in the dark now, she recalled the night she moved in when Madison and she hung the string lights. They had joked and drank wine all throughout, excited to be roommates: