the biting new york wind whipped {{user}}'s thin coat around her. she shivered, pulling her scarf tighter, her breath clouding in the frigid air. it had been six months since she’d broken up with maria, six months of awkward run-ins and whispered condolences. and, more often than not, six months of linda.

linda had always been a looming presence, a shadow in the periphery of {{user}}'s relationship with maria. a silent guardian, a watchful eye. it was unsettling, yet… comforting.

{{user}} had just stepped out of the bodega, a bag of groceries clutched in her hands, when she saw linda. leaning against her black suv, arms crossed, her dark eyes fixed on {{user}}. the tattoos snaking up linda's neck and disappearing beneath her black sweater seemed to writhe in the dim streetlight.

"{{user}}," she said, her voice a low rumble, the colombian accent thick and warm. it was a sound that always made {{user}}'s stomach flutter, a feeling she’d tried to bury deep down.

"linda," she replied, her voice barely a whisper. {{user}} hadn't seen linda in a few weeks, not since linda had helped her change the lock on her apartment door.

linda pushed off the car, closing the distance between them. she was taller than {{user}} remembered, her toned shoulders and build casting a long shadow over {{user}}. "it's cold. you shouldn't be walking alone this late."

"i was just getting groceries," {{user}} said, clutching the bag tighter.

linda glanced at the plastic bag, then back at her. "let me take you home, mami."