Khione smiled now, alone in the crowded street, her heart full, her steps light.
The box was small. The gift was simple. But it was hers, chosen with care, given with love.
And that was enough. After all this was her first real gift to her man, she would like him to wear it as long as possible.
°°°
The sun was high, the morning cool giving way to a gentle warmth. The cafe was tucked between a bookshop and a tailor's stall, its tables spilling onto a small terrace shaded by a striped awning. Cadets came and went, some stopping for coffee, others for pastries, their conversations a low murmur that blended with the clink of cups and the hiss of the steam machine.
