The night had ended, but its echoes remained.
Jake lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, his mind restless. The faint glow of streetlights seeped through the blinds, casting soft, broken lines across the room. It was late-too late to still be awake, yet he couldn't close his eyes without seeing her. Hriva.
There was something about her presence that had unsettled him in the best way possible. He hadn't expected it. One moment, he was just another guest at the party, lost in the usual chatter and noise, and the next, he was standing in front of a woman who made the entire world fade into the background.
It wasn't just attraction. It wasn't just conversation. It was something deeper, something raw and unexplainable.
Jake sighed, running a hand through his hair. He had met plenty of people before-plenty of interesting women-but this was different. There was a kind of familiarity to Hriva, as if he had known her in another lifetime, as if their souls had brushed against each other long before their bodies did.
He exhaled sharply, shaking his head. You're overthinking this, Jake. It was just a conversation. But even as he told himself that, his heart disagreed.
Some connections were like sparks-bright, fleeting, and gone before you could even register their warmth. But others… others were like embers, burning slow and deep, impossible to ignore.
And he had a feeling Hriva was the latter.
Across the city, Hriva sat by her bedroom window, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The night was still, the world outside bathed in silver moonlight. Yet inside her, a storm was brewing.
She should have fallen asleep hours ago, but her mind refused to quiet. Every time she closed her eyes, she was back at the party-standing in front of Jake, caught in the intensity of his gaze, feeling a pull she couldn't explain.
She wasn't supposed to feel this way.
Hriva prided herself on being in control of her emotions, on knowing exactly what she wanted. And yet, Jake had slipped past her defenses so effortlessly, so naturally, as if he had always been meant to.
She traced her fingers along the windowpane, watching the city lights flicker in the distance. Why did it feel like something had shifted inside her tonight? Why did it feel like she had just stepped into something irreversible?
It scared her.
Because longing was dangerous. It made people reckless. It made them chase things they couldn't have.
And yet…
Hriva closed her eyes and allowed herself one small, quiet confession.
I wish I could see him again.
Morning came too soon.
Jake went about his day as usual, but the feeling from last night clung to him. Work should have distracted him, but his thoughts kept slipping-back to her voice, back to the way she spoke about music like it was a part of her soul.
He checked his phone out of habit, even though he knew he had no reason to expect a message. They hadn't exchanged numbers. No promises had been made.
Was she thinking about him too?
He shook his head, trying to focus on the reports in front of him, but the words blurred together. With a frustrated sigh, he pushed away from his desk and rubbed his temples.
"This is ridiculous," he muttered to himself. He wasn't some lovesick teenager. He had only met her once.
And yet, deep down, he already knew the truth.
One meeting had been enough to change everything.
Hriva was no ordinary woman. And whatever had started that night…
It wasn't over.