로그인Andrea left Mindy’s apartment with her best friend’s words still ringing in her ears. Go home. Tell him how you feel. Stop running. She drove through the Chicago streets in silence, the city lights blurring past the windows. Her hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles turned white. Every red light felt like an eternity. Every block brought her closer to the penthouse, and to the man waiting inside it. By the time she pulled into the private garage beneath the building, her heart was hammering so hard she could feel it in her throat. She sat in the car for a full minute after turning off the engine, staring at the concrete wall in front of her. This is it, she told herself. No more avoiding. No more hiding in the guest room. You love him. Say it. Whatever it takes, just say it. She took a deep, shaky breath, grabbed her bag, and stepped into the elevator. The ride up to the top floor felt like a real torture. When the doors opened, the familiar scent of the pentho
Mindy’s bedroom door was barely closed before she spun around the room, eyes wide with disbelief.“Caleb?” she repeated, voice pitching up. “Your ex-Caleb? The asshole who cheated on your birthday and left you crying on a park bench for three hours? That Caleb is back and texting you?”Andrea nodded miserably, sinking down onto the edge of Mindy’s bed. She hugged a pillow to her chest like it could protect her from the chaos in her own head. “Yeah. That Caleb.”Mindy stared at her for a long second, then dropped onto the bed beside her, the mattress dipping under their combined weight. “Okay, I don’t understand thiss, start from the beginning, what really happened. Because I swear I left you alone for like a week and now it feels like the entire universe decided to throw a grenade into your love life.”Andrea took a shaky breath and let it all spill out.“Henry told me he loves me,” she said, the words tumbling fast. “During some movie night. We were laughing, fighting over the remote
Andrea stood frozen in the doorway of Mindy’s apartment, the spare key still dangling from her fingers. The scene in front of her hit like a slap.Mindy was straddling Marcus on the couch, her beige dress hiked up around her thighs, fingers tangled in his hair as they kissed like the world was ending. Marcus’s hands gripped her waist, pulling her closer, their mouths moving together with a heat and hunger that made the air feel thick. Mindy let out a soft, breathy sound against his lips, and Marcus groaned in response, tilting his head to deepen the kiss.Andrea’s mouth fell open.“Mindy!”The name came out louder than she intended, echoing through the living room.Mindy jerked back like she’d been electrocuted. Her eyes flew open wide, lips still parted and glossy. Marcus’s hands froze on her hips. Both of them turned toward the door at the same time, faces flushed and hair messy.“Andrea?” Mindy’s voice cracked. She scrambled off Marcus’s lap so fast she nearly tripped over the coff
Andrea arrived at the small café fifteen minutes early, her stomach already knotted with dread. She had chosen a public place on purpose with neutral territory, lots of people and easy escape routes. The café was bright and airy, with large windows overlooking the street and soft jazz playing in the background. She picked a table near the door, ordered a black coffee she probably wouldn’t drink, and sat with her hands clenched tightly in her lap.Her phone lay face-down on the table. She kept glancing at it, half hoping the messages from last night had been a dream. They weren’t. The screen still showed the unread thread from Caleb.She rubbed her eyes hard, then pressed her palms against her temples. Why now? Of all the fucking moments in my life, why did he have to show up right when I finally decided to tell Henry I love him too?The bell above the door chimed and Andrea looked up.Caleb walked in.He looked almost exactly the same as she remembered — tall, lean, dark hair neatly s
Andrea sat frozen on the edge of the guest room bed, the glow of her phone screen the only light in the dark room. The message stared back at her, the letters sharp and impossible.Unknown number: Hey… it’s Caleb. I’m back in Chicago for a while. I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. Can we talk?She blinked once. Twice. Then rubbed her eyes hard with the heels of her palms, as if the motion could wipe the words away like smudges on glass. When she opened her eyes again, the message was still there. Same words. Same number. Same ghost from her past reaching out at the absolute worst moment.Her stomach twisted violently. A cold sweat broke out along her spine.“This isn’t real. Am I dreaming? Or maybe I’m losing my mind. Why the fuck would Caleb text me right now?”She had spent the last hour lying in bed, heart still racing from Henry’s confession, turning over the decision in her head like a precious, fragile thing. She had finally decided she was going to tell him. She was goi
Three days had passed since the movie night confession, and the penthouse felt different.Andrea moved through the mornings like a ghost in her own life. She woke earlier than usual, slipping out of the guest room before Henry stirred, leaving only a neatly folded blanket and a short note on the kitchen island: Left for work early. See you at the office. In the office, she made his coffee exactly the way he liked it every morning–black, one sugar, no foam poured into the thermos he preferred and placed it on his desk at Crestview with a quiet, professional “Good morning, Mr. Moore.”Henry always looked up from whatever report he was reading, eyes softening the moment they landed on her. “Morning, Andrea,” he would say, voice warm but careful, like he was testing the temperature of the water between them. “How did you sleep?”“Fine,” she would reply, clipped and polite, already turning toward the door. “Let me know if you need anything else.”She never stayed for the small talk he tri







