Sleek glossy black hair to mid-back, near-invisibly burgundy at the very ends, over a striking diamond-shaped face — high cheekbones, a wide full mouth, a strong chin, and amber eyes set under a high arch that dares you before she speaks. Tall, deep warm skin, an athletic-curvy figure she carries straight and certain. A second ear-piercing she keeps empty in the hall and fills the instant she is out of sight, dark-polished nails, and a thin fading henna line along one wrist. She holds a room the way a woman does who has decided it is already hers.