Chapter 67

• Damien stared out the window of his dimly lit apartment, his brow furrowed in thought as he glanced out at the city lights twinkling against the backdrop of a starlit sky. Weeks had passed since he had last seen Charlotte. The memory of their last encounter played back in his mind like a broken record, the awkwardness of the moment replaying in vivid detail. He remembered the look on her face when he had run into her with her date, her cheeks flushing a shade of red that made his stomach twist in knots. He had wanted to act casual, to brush it off as just another night in the busy city, but the way she had darted her eyes away from him—a mixture of surprise and something else—had made his heart sink.
• Since then, the silence between them had been deafening. It gnawed at Damien like a persistent ache he couldn’t shake. He had tried texting her, sending light-hearted messages that felt empty and forced, but the replies were sparse, threaded with hesitation. The playful banter they used to share was gone, replaced by a distance that made him feel like an outsider in his own life. Each day stretched into the next, heavy with uncertainty, leaving him restless and increasingly frustrated.
• “Why hasn’t she responded?” he muttered to himself, running a hand through his unruly hair. He had played the scenes over and over, attempting to dissect their last interactions, but nothing made sense anymore. The chemistry they had shared felt like an echo, gradually fading into the background noise of his life. He picked up his phone again, staring at her contact name, but his fingers hovered, hesitating to push send.