love hasn’t been kind to you. the man you loved with your heart, broke it. broke it so violently and mercilessly that you fear the concept of ‘love’ now. meeting people and falling in love for the second time only felt like another invitation to a heartbreak.

but no matter how much you feel depressed and heartbroken, life never stops for anyone and nor does work. because of your job you have to face various people everyday even when some of them are exhausting.

a few weeks ago, Alex was the client you had to help out. but he for some reason didn’t let the contact between you two break even after your work was done with him. asking to meet probably over coffee or sharing random reels, he was quite different. you couldn’t tell why did he keep crossing paths with you.

over time the ‘formality’ you typically use with a client faded with him but the hint of awkwardness persisted.

‘hey why are you lost?’ the sudden voice woke you up from your trance.

‘oh i’m so sorry, i zoned out for a second.’ you replied looking at the glass door near you, of the cafe.

‘well i’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while…’ Alex said without breaking eye contact which you almost didn’t want to keep.

‘yes?’ you heard this sentence before and didn’t like what this took you. you were scared of what he’ll say.

‘well, you are smart enough to probably guess about what’s up but i didn’t want to give signals and just say out loud what i meant. well, i really like your company. you are sweet, kind and fun to hang out with. so, um, would you go on a date with me? a casual one.’

your heart palpitated. the one thing you ran away from was chasing you all this time.