The photo hit the group chat at 5:42. Mirror selfie, dress zipped, hair done, lipstick already on. The question came after all that: work dinner, last-minute invite, is this too much?

First came a laughing sticker. Then one friend wrote, “Girl.” Then nothing for almost a minute, which was worse than being teased.

Somebody asked where her husband was. Somebody else typed, “Do not act like you don’t know what you’re doing.” That one sat there. She saved the photo to favorites before she left, then muted the chat in the cab because the quiet had started to feel like its own reply.