The Distance That Felt Like SafetyThe café had started to feel different.Not empty.Not lonely.Just quieter in a way that made every small sound louder.The clinking of spoons,the low hum of conversations,the faint rain tapping against the glass windows.Aarushi sat at her usual corner table, fingers wrapped around her untouched coffee. She wasn’t reading today. The book lay closed beside her, as if even the words inside it had decided to give her space.Mira hadn’t messaged since last night.Not unusual.Not alarming.But something inside Aarushi kept noticing it.She hated that part of herself—the one that counted silences like they were seconds on