LOGINCAREFULLY KEPT LIE
Helen stood in front of the mirror longer than she intended.
Not because she couldn’t decide what to wear.
But because she kept asking herself why she was standing there in the first place.
The question lingered in her mind in a way she didn’t quite know how to answer. Not loudly. Not urgently. Just steadily, like something she was trying not to acknowledge.
Behind her, the apartment
CAREFULLY KEPT LIEHelen stood in front of the mirror longer than she intended.Not because she couldn’t decide what to wear.But because she kept asking herself why she was standing there in the first place.The question lingered in her mind in a way she didn’t quite know how to answer. Not loudly. Not urgently. Just steadily, like something she was trying not to acknowledge.Behind her, the apartment was still quiet.Her mother had already started her morning routine—soft footsteps earlier in the kitchen, the familiar clink of cups being placed carefully into the sink, the low hum of the radio that meant she was awake but deliberately giving space, pretending not to notice the way Helen had been moving these past days differently.Helen adjusted her blouse again.Clean lines. Neutral tone. Nothing that would draw attention or inv
TOMORROW CAN'T WAITThe ride home felt longer than usual.Helen sat by the bus window, watching New York slip past in blurred lights and familiar streets. People hurried through the evening with umbrellas in their hands, cars splashed through puddles, and somewhere a street musician played a melody that disappeared before she could recognize it.Normally, after work, her mind stayed occupied with schedules, unfinished reports, and everything waiting for her the next morning. She would mentally organize tomorrow before she had even reached home, replaying meetings and checking whether she had forgotten an email or a document.Tonight was different.No matter how hard she tried, her thoughts refused to stay in New York.They wandered thousands of miles away.To Dubai.To the quiet lagoon that shimmered under
QUESTIONS LINDA WOULDN'T STOPHelen looked at Linda for several seconds.Then she sighed."No."Linda blinked."I haven't even asked the question.""You don't have to.""I absolutely do.""You absolutely don't."Linda folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the reception desk, looking entirely too comfortable.Employees walked past them, carrying folders and coffee cups, and occasionally greeted them before continuing toward their offices.Helen wished one of them would interrupt.None of them did.Instead, Linda smiled.The smile of someone who had found a mystery and intended to solve it."So," Linda said again."So what?"&nb
SOMETHINGS HAS CHANGEDNew York greeted them with rain.Not the dramatic kind that flooded streets or sent people running desperately for cover.Just a steady drizzle that coated the airport windows in tiny droplets and turned the sky into a dull shade of gray.Helen remained seated for a moment after the plane touched down.Around her, passengers were already moving.Seatbelts clicked open.Overhead compartments swung wide.People reached for bags before the aircraft had even fully stopped.The familiar impatience made her smile.It was amazing how everyone spent hours waiting to arrive somewhere, only to act as though an extra two minutes would ruin their lives.She turned her head slightly toward the window.Beyond the rain-streaked
THE FLIGHT HOMEThe rest of the morning passed far too quickly.Helen hated that.It felt unfair somehow.Only a few hours ago, she had been curled against Cole beneath warm blankets while the sun slowly climbed over the lagoon.Now she was standing in the middle of her room, staring at an open suitcase.Reality had returned.And reality was annoyingly efficient.Her clothes were folded across the bed.Shoes lined neatly beside the luggage.Toiletries already packed away.Everything was ready.Yet she couldn't bring herself to zip the suitcase shut.Because the moment she did, the trip would officially be over.The thought made her unexpectedly sad.Not because of Dubai.
THE CALM BEFORE HOMECole woke before sunrise.For several moments, he lay there. Quiet. Watching.The room was still wrapped in the soft gray light that arrived before morning fully claimed the sky. Beyond the glass walls, the lagoon sat motionless beneath the last of the stars, the water so calm it looked like something poured and left to set.But his attention wasn't on the view.It was on Helen.She was asleep beside him, one hand tucked beneath her cheek, dark hair scattered across the pillow in a way that looked almost deliberate — the kind of effortless that only existed when no one was trying. Her breathing was slow and even. Her face is completely unguarded.He had worked alongside this woman for months.Had watched her field calls at midnight, revised reports she had already revised twice, absorbed pre
AN UNEXPECTED DEPARTUREThe elevator doors opened with a soft chime.For a moment, nobody moved.Helen wasn't entirely sure why.Maybe because the silence inside that elevator had felt unusually crowded.Not with people.With things left unsaid.Vivian stepped out first.Effortlessly elegant, as t
UNFAMILIAR GROUNDHelen woke slowly.The first thing she noticed was warmth.The second was that her neck didn't hurt.Which was strange.Because she'd fallen asleep sitting upright on an airp
ABOVE THE CLOUDSHelen hated mornings.She hated them on principle.She hated them philosophically, personally, and with great consistency.But four-thirty in the morning was something else entirely.Four-thirty in the morning wasn't a morning.It was an insult.The alarm cut through the silence li
VIVIAN LUCAS ON THE PLANENeither of them noticed her.That was the problem.Or perhaps that was exactly why Vivian Lucas stayed where she was.The lobby was large enough that she could stand near one of the marble columns without drawing attention to herself.She watched the elevator doors open.W







