Chapter 14 — When Distance Isn’t Enough

Dianne didn’t sleep again that night.

Not because of fear this time…

But because of the way Roy looked at her before leaving.

Like she was something precious.

Like he was memorizing her.

Like walking away was the hardest thing he’d done all day.

She lay in her dark room, staring at the ceiling while Maya slept down the hall, replaying the evening over and over.

The tension.

The clash.

The way Roy didn’t raise his voice—not once.

The way he endured Maya’s interrogation like he deserved it.

And maybe he did, she thought.

But it didn’t make anything easier.

By morning, her thoughts were tangled, her emotions a confusing blur. She expected things to settle once Maya left the house for errands, but instead, her sister lingered in the kitchen, watching her with narrowed eyes.

“You’re thinking about him,” Maya said, sipping her tea.

Dianne paused mid-slice with her bread knife. “I’m not.”

“You are.” Maya looped her arms. “Your face gets this… floaty softness. It’s the same look you had right before Damian messed everything up.”

Dianne flinched. “Maya, please don’t compare them.”

“Then stop acting like they feel the same.” Maya sighed and came closer, her tone softening. “Dee… I just want you to be safe. I’m not telling you to hate him. I’m telling you not to rush.”

Dianne nodded, because she didn’t trust herself to say anything.

Her phone vibrated.

A message.

From Roy.

Are you home?

Her breath caught.

I won’t come over, the next message added, as though he sensed Maya glaring through the walls.

I just… wanted to know if you’re okay.

She didn’t know what possessed her, but she replied.

I’m fine. Thank you.

Three dots appeared instantly, then stopped.

Then appeared again.

Then stopped.

Finally:

If you need anything. Anything at all. Tell me.

She shouldn’t have smiled—but she did.

Maya’s suspicious gaze burned into her. “Dianne… did he text you?”

“No,” Dianne lied. And her heart thumped guiltily.

Later that afternoon…

Maya insisted they go out, walk around, “detox your brain from men,” as she put it. They strolled through the Notting Hill streets, stopped for pastries, and browsed through small shops.

For a while, things felt normal.

Until Maya suddenly looked over Dianne’s shoulder and froze.

“Oh, hell,” she muttered.

Dianne turned—

—and her heart faltered.

Roy.

Standing across the street.

Hands in his pockets.

Dressed in a black coat and dark slacks.

Watching her with an unreadable expression.

He didn’t approach.

Didn’t wave.

Didn’t smile.

He was trying to respect her space.

And somehow, that made it worse.

“Is he following us?” Maya hissed.

“No,” Dianne whispered, throat tight. “He wouldn’t.”

But then Roy looked down, jaw tightening, and turned away—walking in the opposite direction as if forcing himself to retreat.

Dianne’s chest hurt.

Maya watched her. “Don’t even think about it.”

“I’m not,” Dianne whispered.

She was.

After dinner and too many attempts at distracting her thoughts, Dianne finally retreated into her room.

Maya was in the living room watching TV.

She wouldn’t notice if Dianne made a call.

Or so she hoped.

Her fingers hovered over her phone.

Don’t do it, she told herself.

But the ache in her chest wouldn’t listen.

She pressed call.

Roy answered immediately, as though he’d been waiting.

“Dianne?” His voice was soft, startled.

She closed her eyes. “Why were you in Notting Hill today?”

A pause.

“I wanted to see you. But I didn’t want to interfere. I’m… trying to give you space.”

Her breath shuddered.

“You don’t have to hide,” she murmured.

Another pause—longer this time.

“Say that again,” he whispered.

“You don’t have to hide.”

Silence crackled through the line—warm, intense, terrifying.

“Dianne,” he breathed, “you have no idea what you do to me.”

Her pulse skipped.

She sat down on the edge of her bed, lowering her voice. “Roy… I’m confused. Maya is right. My head says I should keep my distance.”

“And your heart?” he asked gently.

Her lips parted.

Her heartbeat trembled.

“My heart doesn’t understand distance,” she whispered.

There was a soft exhale on the other end—shaken, emotional.

“Then let me be close,” he said.

Her eyes stung.

“Roy… I’m scared.”

“I know,” he murmured. “I’ll go slow. I mean it. I’ll let you set the pace. Just… don’t shut me out.”

Someone knocked suddenly on her door.

Dianne startled. “I—I need to go.”

“Dianne—”

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” she whispered, ending the call quickly as Maya opened the door.

Her sister narrowed her eyes. “Who were you talking to?”

“No one,” Dianne lied again.

Maya stared at her long and hard.

“Don’t test me, Dee. I can see everything in your eyes.”

Dianne’s throat tightened.

And she realized something then—

Keeping her heart locked wasn’t as easy as Maya made it sound.

Not when Roy Sinclair was slowly, gently, impossibly slipping through the cracks.

The moment Maya closed Dianne’s bedroom door behind her, the silence felt sharp—too sharp. Dianne sat stiffly on her bed, still shaken from the phone call she had just ended. Maya watched her with that familiar mix of suspicion and worry.

“Dianne,” she said quietly, “were you talking to Roy?”

Dianne swallowed, pulse jumping. “Maya, please—”

“I asked you a question.”

That was it.

The match that ignited the fire.

Dianne stood abruptly. “You can’t keep policing my life, Maya. I’m not a child. I’m capable of making decisions for myself.”

Maya’s expression hardened in an instant. “Oh really? Because every time you ‘make a decision,’ it involves a man who ends up destroying your mental health.”

Dianne flinched as if slapped. “That’s not fair.”

“It’s reality.” Maya crossed her arms. “You fall too fast. You trust too easily. And you’re about to do it again—with someone who already hurt you.”

“People make mistakes!” Dianne snapped. “I’m allowed to give someone another chance.”

Maya scoffed. “He didn’t just make a mistake, Dianne. He humiliated you. The entire office saw the way he treated you!”

“And he apologized,” Dianne shot back. “He’s trying.”

“Trying isn’t enough.”

“It is for me!”

Their voices rose, colliding with shadows on the walls.

Maya stepped closer, eyes burning. “You think I enjoy this? You think I like being the villain in your story? I’m trying to protect you!”

“I didn’t ask you to protect me!” Dianne cried. Her voice cracked, and tears stung her eyes. “I just needed you to be here for me. Not… control me.”

Maya’s jaw tightened. “If I don’t control you, you’ll break again.”

“I won’t!”

“You will!” Maya shouted back. “And I can’t watch that happen!”

Dianne’s breath shook. “Maya… you’re suffocating me.”

Those three words silenced the entire room.

Maya’s face froze—fury giving way to something deeper, more fragile.

“I’m suffocating you?” Her voice was barely audible. “After everything? After dragging you out of that hotel room when you collapsed on the floor? After holding you at 4 a.m. while you cried so hard you couldn’t breathe? After defending you online when trolls were calling you names? After—”

Dianne’s tears fell. “Maya, stop.”

“—after watching you disappear inside yourself for months?” Maya’s voice cracked suddenly, painfully. “Dee… you almost lost yourself. I almost lost you.”

Dianne’s heart twisted.

Maya’s lip quivered, and she looked away, blinking fast. “You think I’m controlling. I think I’m terrified. Every second.”

The anger dissolved.

Just like that.

Dianne felt her chest break open. “Maya…”

Maya finally let the tears fall, and her voice shook. “If you fall again, I don’t know if I can put you back together. I’m not strong enough anymore.”

Dianne couldn’t breathe.

She crossed the room in two steps and pulled Maya into a tight, trembling hug.

Maya buried her face in Dianne’s shoulder, sobbing—raw, desperate, exhausted. “I don’t want to lose you,” she choked out. “Not to a man. Not again.”

“You won’t,” Dianne whispered, crying just as hard. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

They held each other, sinking slowly to the floor as if their bodies couldn’t carry the weight of their fear any longer.

Dianne stroked Maya’s hair, her own tears falling freely. “I love you. You know that, right?”

Maya nodded against her shoulder. “I love you too. I always will. That’s why I’m scared.”

“I know,” Dianne whispered. “And I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel alone in protecting me. I just… I need you to trust me a little.”

Maya sniffed, pulling back slightly to wipe her eyes. “I’m trying. God, I’m trying.”

Dianne cupped her face gently. “And I’m trying too.”

They leaned their foreheads together, breathing shakily.

Just two sisters—broken, terrified, healing each other the only way they knew how.

After a long moment, Maya let out a soft, wet laugh. “We look crazy.”

Dianne laughed too, wiping her face. “Completely.”

But it was a good kind of crazy—the kind that came from love, from pain, from the bond that refused to break.

Maya squeezed her hand. “I’m still not sold on Roy.”

Dianne smiled sadly. “I know. But we’ll figure it out together. One step at a time.”

Maya nodded slowly. “Okay. One step.”

For the first time since Roy entered her life, Dianne felt like she could breathe.

Even if everything ahead of her was uncertain, she wasn’t walking into it alone.