The flight to Paris was delayed. Alex hadn’t gotten the text alert until she was nearly at the airport, so she was spending her evening wandering around the liminal space of the empty terminal. It was an annoyance, but it did make her long layover in Paris feel like more of a gift than a burden. Now, she could just enjoy herself instead of biting her freshly gelled nails, panicking about how she would get to Marseille once she landed.

At the perfume counter with a lone saleswoman, Alex let her spray a few different scents onto tiny strips of paper for her to sample. There was a language to scents that she’d always appreciated—things were woody, or floral, or gourmand, whatever that meant—and nodding along as someone explained them always felt like an elegant activity. This kind of financially neutral indulgence had become a game for Alex, finding ways to extract joy or adventure from her surroundings without spending any money.

Airports used to be one of the most dangerous places for Alex’s bank account. The excitement of travel, paired with the casino-like isolation from the outside world, seemed to justify any and all spending, no matter how frivolous. This very terminal was the site of a particularly memorable spree: one in which she’d charged $300 to her card in a single night before heading to Mexico for spring break. Later, when she finally performed a forensic analysis of the debt she’d racked up, she marveled at the sheer insanity of her purchases: several overpriced drinks, a designer eyeshadow palette, two baskets of chicken tenders (?), three magazines, and countless mystery items she had lost the receipts for.

Now, she poked around the duty-free stands to keep her hands busy, but her mind pulled back to Danial like a faulty shopping cart. Their group chat had been aflutter all week with travel plans and arrival times, so she knew he was flying from New York to Paris with Sophie. And she also knew—or at least, suspected—the two of them would spend the flight sprawled in their luxurious lie-flat seats, sipping free champagne and laughing about something Alex could never relate to. She wouldn’t even be surprised if they had started dating: Sophie was a junior executive for a French fashion brand, and everything about her was beautiful and effortless. If she wanted Danial, she could undoubtedly have him.

Stop obsessing, Alex thought so hard she nearly spoke it out loud, he is not your problem anymore.