The wind cut through the hoop of her earring, sending its chill throughout the entire ring. Therefore, the upper portion of her ear was painfully throbbing only seconds after she stepped free from her car. Shoving her hand into her purse, she pinned the bag between the car door and her hip – relying on her vehicle to provide some sort of shield for the weather. Fumbling through empty cigarette cartons for the sole one that still rattled with a lone smoke inside, she withdrew it and thumped her finger on the bottom of the carton. Shit happened, of course. That trick never worked, and when it did, she only would manage to send a whole arsenal of cigarettes into the air. Lack of party-trick abilities aside, this ritual was being performed only to give her heart time to slow down. The parking lot was short, and if her walk was too slow it’d be all too evident that she was searching the other cars for familiarity. It was the last thing she wanted to look, wary. 

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