The morning stretched before Amelia like a vast, empty plain. She couldn’t seem to muster the energy to even lift the duvet. A dull ache throbbed behind her eyes, and her limbs felt heavy, weighted down by an unseen force. When the insistent buzzing of her phone finally penetrated the fog in her brain, she groaned. It was a message from David, her… boyfriend, she supposed. "Fancy brunch at that new place on Elm Street?" The thought of getting dressed, of interacting with another human being, filled her with a profound sense of inertia.
She finally dragged herself out of bed at eleven. The sunlight was too bright, the air thick with an oppressive humidity. On her way to brunch, she ran into a woman who seemed familiar. “Oh my god, you’re Amelia, right? David is going to be so surprised to see you here!”
Amelia squinted. "David?"
"Yes! He's inside, waiting. He's been telling me all about you. I'm Sarah."
Inside, David looked up, beaming. "Amelia! You made it!" He gestured towards Sarah. "We were just talking about you." Sarah smiled, and then it hit Amelia. That necklace, the way Sarah's voice sounded -- it was the same way David had described it to Amelia. The world tilted slightly. A sudden heaviness settled in her chest, a knot of confusion and a strange, unfamiliar weariness.