Chapter 11 Emoji

• Rania stared at her phone screen for a long time before finally deciding to reply to Aleksander's message, her finger hovering hesitantly over the virtual keyboard. There was something in the way the man delivered his requests—always a statement, never a question, always an order wrapped in a thin layer of politeness—that made Rania uncomfortable, as though she were slowly being steered in a direction entirely determined by someone else.
• Come to my office tomorrow morning, Aleksander wrote. There's someone you need to meet. His name is Ethan.
• No "could you," no "if you don't mind." Just a firm statement that seemed to already assume the answer was yes, exactly like his previous messages, which always sounded more like instructions than invitations.