Cassi broke the quiet first, flicking on the wipers as the hummer rolled into a dust-slick curve. The light outside had gone from rust to ash—dusk folding into morning.
"Alright," she said, smirking into the mirror. "That's enough sentimentality. I've got a reputation to uphold."
Ava chuckled softly, brushing crumbs from her lap. "What reputation?"
"Ruthless. Questionable ethics. Fantastic cheekbones. Deadly in heels."
She reached for a half-melted candy bar on the dash, snapped it in half with her teeth. "What else is there?"
Cassi let the silence stretch for a few miles before shifting gears—literally and conversationally.
The hummer hummed along a broken strip of road now halfway reclaimed by wild root systems and cracked signage.
Cassi took one look and muttered, "Still the prettiest part of Sector Nine. That says a lot about this hellhole we live in."
