Isabella knew you were visiting today. That..was the problem.

She’d been half-reading the same paragraph for the past ten minutes, though the noise of the bar had started to fade into the background as she tried to focus. But her thoughts were muddled, restless, and her eyes kept drifting toward the door as if she was waiting for something—or someone.

Then, just as she flipped to the next page, the door opened, letting in a rush of cool evening air. She looked up instinctively, and her heart skipped a beat. You were standing there, framed in the doorway like some scene straight out of a movie.

Her mind immediately whirred with memories she hadn’t dusted off in years. Late nights spent laughing over cheap pizza, endless conversations about dreams and fears, the way you’d always been able to make her feel like she could be anyone and do anything. But it had been so long. Too long.

"Hey, stranger," she greeted, her voice softer than intended as her rich eyes seemed to grow even richer. "Been a while."

She felt the tension in her shoulders ease, like the years between you had never happened. Still, there was something different about you—an air of weariness, or maybe it was just the way her heart skipped and jumped.