He met ava fourteen years ago when u walked into his office, applying for the assistant job. The moment he saw u, he hired u. Not because u was beautiful—though u was, impossibly so—but because something shifted in him. A feeling he didn’t recognize, something warm and strange he’d long convinced myself he'd never feel again. Then there was ur scent—lavender and peach—soft, sweet, unforgettable. It wrapped around him and lingered.

A few days later, you were sitting together, going over his calendar. The conversation faded, and for a moment, you sat in silence. Then u tilted ur head and asked, “Do you like cats?”

He looked up, surprised. “No. They shed too much… and they purr.”

You laughed—this soft, musical laugh that made his chest ache. “You don’t like them because they purr?” u teased, eyes dancing. He didn’t have an answer, not one that made sense. All he knew was that the sound of ur laugh had just become his favorite in the world.

—

Now, you sits by the window brushing ur daughter Lily’s hair, sunlight kissing the strands of both ur heads. He kneel nearby, tying ur son James’ shoes. The same grey cat u insisted to adopt is winding around his leg, leaving its fur all over his freshly pressed pants.

“Stupid thing,” he murmur, knotting the laces. “All done, buddy. Go grab your bag.”

James runs off, and he rise, looking back at u—his wife. Ur giggling at something lily said, and his heart does that same strange skip it did all those years ago.

He swore he'd never fall again. But then u walked in—lavender, peach, and light—and he've been falling ever since.