n.Constantly measuring whether you care more than the other person does.
The Human Diary editorial term
The Scoreboard
Nine minutes.
Dev had replied to her last message in nine minutes, and Meher had replied to his in four, and she was aware — fully, humiliatingly aware — that she had checked.
She put the phone face down on the desk. Then she turned it back over to make sure it hadn't buzzed. Then she put it in a drawer, which felt like an achievement and was in fact a symptom.