And she wants to have lunch. Just us.
Rose: Wait, WHAT THE FUCK?
Is she feeling okay? Any signs of fever? Head trauma?
Also, are YOU okay????????
Me: I KNOW.
It was actually… nice? Like, scary nice. Like she was my sister, not the Head of Legal sent to ruin my life.
Rose: Plot twist: she’s been body-snatched.
Either way, I’m proud of you both. And I’m thrilled she didn’t passive-aggressively call you a liability.
But, can we go back to the ‘kinda proposed’ part? I’m lost.
Me: SO, we were in a meeting, and Max made a comment after Theo announced our relationship.
And then he casually mentioned something about a marriage proposal for whenever I’m ready for it.
Rose: OMG!!! Is this the same man who said he wouldn’t do this again?
Me: Yup, that same man.
Rose: OMG, I’m in awe.
I’m so happy for you, but also PLEASE MAKE ME MAID OF HONOR.
Me: There’s no wedding!!!!!!!
yet.
Rose: YET?!
ME: Bye.
I have to work.
Rose: UGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
I grinned at the screen, heart still a little tangled but lighter than it had been all week. Maybe this was the beginning of something real—messy, complicated, utterly unexpected, but real.
The rest of the afternoon passed in soft focus.
I wrapped up a few reports, answered a dozen emails, and made edits on a draft Naomi had flagged. I wasn’t racing the clock like usual. I wasn’t counting the hours. I was just… working. Living. Sitting in my office with a matcha latte that Pascal had made exactly how I liked it.
And at the back of my mind, under the spreadsheets and strategy decks, there was this warm hum of something right. Something that felt like a future I hadn’t dared let myself imagine until recently. I caught myself smiling at nothing more than the pale green swirl of foam in my mug.
Maybe it was reckless to feel this way. To feelsafeandseen. But I did. And despite all my defenses, all my past lives, all the reasons I’d built walls so high even I got dizzy near the top, I wantedthis.
I wantedhim. I wanted what we were building.
Even if it scared the shit out of me.
By six-thirty, I was packing up my things, folding my coat over my arm, and heading home—to his place. Well, our place now. It still felt strange calling it that, but when I slid my key into the door and stepped inside, I immediately inhaled the scent of him. Cedar and something sharp and clean wrapped around me.
I set my bag down. Took off my heels. Poured a glass of water and walked into the bathroom. I needed a bath like I needed sleep and oxygen.
