The Man from the Billboard

The next morning felt heavier than the night before.

Annie woke up with swollen eyes, an empty chest, and a mind too loud to rest.

Tasha was still asleep, soft snores coming from the other side of the room, but Annie couldn’t stay still anymore. Her thoughts kept circling the same painful truth

The test.

Great’s words.

The way her world shifted in a single night.

She quietly slipped out of the apartment, pulling on jeans, a sweater, and Tasha’s old rain jacket from the hook behind the door. She needed space real space. A long walk, cold air, something that wasn’t walls closing in on her.

When she stepped outside, the sky was pale gray. A soft drizzle fell, gentle enough that she didn’t bother raising her hood. The cold raindrops on her skin felt like tiny shocks, waking her from the numbness sitting inside her chest.

She walked down the sidewalk with no destination. Just walking, breathing, letting the rain cool the fire and fear inside her. Every step felt like pulling her feet through mud, but she kept going.

I can’t believe this is my life, she thought, blinking against the drizzle. How did everything fall apart so fast?

Great’s voice echoed again.

I won.

Her jaw clenched. She wrapped her arms around herself.

The street is quieter the farther she walked fewer people, fewer cars, just the sound of rain hitting pavement. She didn’t mind. Being alone felt easier than pretending she was okay.

She crossed the next road and moved off the sidewalk.

And a black limousine sped around the corner, hitting a deep puddle.

Water splashed up in a wave.

Annie gasped, jumping back just in time. The water splashed on her jeans, soaking the side of her leg.

“Oh my God,” she screamed, freezing in place.

The limousine screeched to a stop. The driver a middle-aged man in a black suit jumped out immediately.

“I’m so sorry, miss!” he said, hurrying toward her. “I didn’t see the puddle are you alright?”

Annie nodded, embarrassed and startled. “I’m fine. It’s okay. Really.”

“Let me get you a towel”

“It’s fine,” she repeated quickly, brushing water off her leg. Her face burned. She looked like a mess, red eyes, wet hair, sleepless shadows under her eyes.

This was the last thing she needed.

Then the back door of the limousine opened.

Annie froze completely.

A tall man stepped out, holding an umbrella in one hand. He wore a perfectly fitted charcoal suit, the fabric catching the light even under the cloudy sky.

His dark hair was neatly styled, but a soft breeze pushed a strand out of place. His presence felt different. Like he walked out of a world made of glass towers and marble floors.

She recognized him instantly.

The man from the billboard.

Ethan Gray.

GrayTech Enterprises.

The billionaire whose face she had stared at yesterday from her car window the same cold, confident gaze that now rested on her. Only this time, he didn’t look distant or untouchable.

He looked curious.

Concerned, even.

“Is she alright?” he asked the driver, but his eyes stayed on Annie.

“Yes, sir. Completely. It was my fault.”

Annie shook her head quickly. “I’m okay, really. Just bad timing.”

Ethan stepped closer, the umbrella shifting above them both. She felt the warmth of his presence even before he reached her tall, steady, grounding in a strange, quiet way.

“You’re shivering,” he said softly.

She blinked and looked down. She was shivering. Hard. Her sweater clung to her damp skin, and the cold rain made her fingers stiff and pale.

“I’m fine,” she said again, though it sounded less convincing each time.

Without another word, Ethan slipped off the coat he wore under his suit jacket and held it out to her.

“Here. Take it.”

Annie’s eyes widened. “No, no I can’t take your coat.”

“It’s just clothing,” he said simply. “But you’re cold.”

His voice was firm but gentle, He didn’t force it into her hands. He just waited, watching her with eyes that looked deeper than she expected.

Her throat tightened. She didn’t want kindness right now not when she was so close to breaking again.

But her fingers reached for the coat anyway.

It was heavy, warm, and smelled like something expensive clean, subtle, masculine. She slipped it around her shoulders, and felt warm.

“Thank you,” she whispered, barely managing the words.

He nodded once. “You’re welcome.”

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The rain fell around them, quiet and steady, and the world felt strangely still.

Ethan studied her face not in a rude way, but with a calm, observant curiosity. Like he could see she wasn’t just cold. She was hurting.

She looked away, embarrassed. “Sorry for… all this. I must look like a mess.”

His voice was low, and gentle. “You look… like someone having a hard morning.”

And for that simple truth, her chest tightened. Most people didn’t notice things like that.

“Just needed some air”, she replied.

“I understand that,” he said softly.

Their eyes met, softly at first… then deeply.

It hit her like a spark, Something unexpected. His gaze was intense but not harsh, steady but not overwhelming.

Her heart gave a small, confused jolt. She didn’t like that feeling. It felt dangerous not like Great’s danger, but like something she wasn’t ready for.

She stepped back, putting distance between them. “Thank you again for the coat. I should go.”

His brows rose slightly, just a flicker. “Will you be alright getting home?”

“I’ll manage,” she said quickly. Too quickly.

She didn’t want him to see her cracked open like this. She didn’t want anyone to.

Without waiting for a reply, she turned and began walking away, her heart pounding harder with every step.

She didn’t look back.

But he did.

Ethan stood under the rain, watching the small figure wrapped in his coat walk away down the street.

The drizzle hit the umbrella softly, but he barely noticed it. Something tugged at him a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Something unfamiliar. Something he didn’t know how to name.

“Sir?” the driver asked, holding the rear door open. “Should I get the towel?”

Ethan didn’t move.

His eyes remained fixed on her until she turned the corner and disappeared from sight.

Only then did he exhale, slow and controlled, the way someone releases a single held breath.

He stepped into the car.

The door closed behind him.

The silence inside the limousine felt different charged, alive, buzzing with the memory of rain and warm eyes and a girl who looked like she was holding her world together with trembling hands.

The driver was about to pull off when Ethan spoke.

His voice was calm.

Firm.

And curious.

“Find out her name.”