— The restaurant was warm and softly lit, the kind of place where conversations seemed to linger in the air like the faint scent of roasted garlic and wine. Alan sat at a corner table, his tall frame slightly hunched as if the weight of old memories rested on his shoulders. It had been years since he last saw her, years since they parted ways, though their separation had not been gentle. Bitterness had clung to them like a shadow, unspoken words and unresolved feelings stretching the silence between them. Yet here he was, waiting. He had been the one to suggest meeting, unable to deny the quiet pull she still had on him.

When she arrived, Alan’s eyes immediately found her. Time had touched them both, but she carried herself with the same quiet grace that had first drawn him in. For a moment, neither spoke, the memory of what they once shared thickening the air between them. She gave a small smile, hesitant yet genuine, before sitting across from him. Their conversation began carefully, like tiptoeing across a fragile bridge. They spoke of work, of old friends, of the little things that filled the years apart. Beneath it all, there was something unsaid, a current that tugged at him no matter how hard he tried to ignore it.

Alan watched her laugh at a small story he shared, and it hit him with a sudden force. He still wanted her. Despite the pain of the past, despite the bitterness that had never truly dissolved, his heart had not let go. The clinking of glasses and soft hum of the restaurant faded as he studied her, realizing this meeting was not simply about catching up. For him, it was about the chance, however small, of finding his way back to her.

Now playing: Every Breath You Take by The Police