Chapter XIV
"Comeback"
Part 1
Anna had suspected that somewhere in the southern corners of Eurasia it might not be entirely customary to stroll around dressed like walking neon sins, but she hadn’t quite imagined the intensity of it. The heat alone felt judgmental, the high sun pouring down like a spotlight, bleaching the old stone walls and sharpening every curve beneath their cut-out dresses.
She was used to being stared at back home. In the city, looks were currency—curious, envious, sometimes shyly hungry. There was a rhythm to it, an unspoken understanding.
But here?!!! Here the men didn’t even pretend subtlety. They stood in doorways and under faded green shutters, cigarettes paused midair, eyes dragging slowly over Anna and Kitty as if committing every exposed inch to memory.
The ancient cobblestones clicked beneath their heels while the two of them moved through the narrow street like bright, glossy insects trapped under a magnifying glass. Observed. Examined. Almost dissected. It was thrilling in a reckless way—Anna could feel the power in it, the deliberate provocation of pink latex against sunburned stone—but there was an undercurrent too, something tighter in her chest. Fun, yes. Electric. But not entirely comfortable.