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Song recommendation: If The World Was Ending by JP saxe, Julia Michaels
How they met:
Sophie had had enough. The rooftop of the Grand Marlon Hotel wasn't exactly the best place to escape, but it was high enough to be alone, and quiet enough to light a cigarette.
She had just fled from a suffocating meeting downstairs. Mr. Gordon—sleazy, rich, and old enough to be her grandfather—had made a pass at her. She couldn't slap him. Her father's company was hanging by a thread, and Gordon held the scissors.
As she exhaled smoke into the night sky, a voice broke her silence.
"You don't look old enough to be killing your lungs."
She turned.
He had messy dark hair, big eyes, a cute appearance, a mop of curls under a hotel name tag—*Fletcher*. Just a rooftop janitor or bartender. Someone unimportant. But his eyes were... curious.
Downstairs, Gordon was offering four times the profit. Mr. Smith, her father, stared blankly. He hated himself for considering it. But the numbers left him no choice.
Back on the rooftop, during their deep conversation, Sophie turned to Fletcher with unexpected intensity.
"Date me."
It wasn't a question. It wasn't even a plea.
Fletcher scoffed.
"Another spoiled heiress playing damsel for the thrill?"
He was halfway out when a group of men stormed in, guns half-concealed, eyes sharp. They weren't here for a drink.
Sophie backed away, heart pounding. Fletcher paused, unsure. But when he saw her—those big blue eyes, frozen in fear—something in him cracked.
"Stop!" he shouted.
They beat him first. She screamed his name—wait, she didn't even know his name.
And no one was listening. Desperate, trapped, she took one last step back.
Then she jumped.
Time froze.
Fletcher's body moved before thought.
"Sophie!"
He leapt.
***
Hospital lights were too bright. Sophie opened her eyes slowly.
"Where...where is he?"
Doctors were talking. Shocked. Calling it a miracle.
A familiar voice cut through.
"Missed me, love."
He stood at the door, bruised, but grinning. She ran to him, hugged him tighter than she'd ever hugged anyone.
He whispered, "You're surprisingly dumb for someone with perfect grades."
She cried. For the second time in her life. Raised to lead, not to feel.
But Fletcher didn't think she was perfect. And somehow, that made her feel… real.
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