She took the elevator to the main floor and walked through the lobby and was purposefully unhurried in her movement so the turmoil inside her wouldn’t show and there was a short line at the revolving door and she had to wait a few moments before entering it and was then released outside and walked casually to the bottom of the concrete steps and buttoned her coat and ten feet ahead of her on the sidewalk were two street vendors standing beside metal and glass carts and when they were behind her she started running and the wind was still strong with particles of ice in it and her eyes were watery and stinging and because she was wearing boots her stride was heavy and more effort was needed to keep up her speed and she had only one thought in her mind – I spent the last three months protecti
