Tuesday — 4:17 PM
The sky was overcast, clouds dragging slowly across the city skyline like thoughts that wouldn't pass.
Ethan had just left his freelance client meeting at the student center. Easy money. Copywriting for a luxury sneaker brand—$220 for two hours of work.
Value is leverage. Stack skills, not titles.
He turned the corner, intending to grab a black Americano before his lift. That's when he saw them.
Sienna. Blake.
Standing outside the campus art building.
Close.
Too close.
Blake was leaning against the wall like a stock-photo flirt, arms crossed, that million-credit smirk weaponized like usual.
Sienna stood in front of him, slightly angled. Not uncomfortable. Not leaning away.
Laughing.
That laugh... wasn't meant for Blake. Not anymore.
Ethan's eyes narrowed slightly.
He slowed his pace. Kept walking.
But stopped where they couldn't see him—behind a sculpture, shadowed by vines and weathered metal.
---
Sienna's voice, muffled:
"I didn't know you were still doing photography."
Blake:
"Just for fun now. Thought you might want to shoot together again sometime."
(Again..?)
Ethan's jaw flexed.
Sienna:
"You were good at capturing light."
Blake (teasing):
"I was better at capturing you."
She laughed again. No resistance. No protest.
Then silence.
Ethan couldn't see her face fully—but he saw the way she twirled her hair.
Nervous energy. Familiar muscle memory.
He used to have a space in her. And she hasn't fully locked the door yet.
---
Ethan stepped back.
Calm. Cold. Precise.
But inside?
Something twisted.
Not jealousy.
Exposure.
Because no matter how well he planned… no matter how surgically he calibrated this second timeline, some variables were never his to command.
(Blake had history. History is gravity. Attraction that once existed can always resurface if you miscalculate.)
He turned and walked away.
(Don't interrupt. Don't interfere. Observe. Adapt.)
---
Later — Ethan's Apartment
Laptop open. Phone face down.
Unread message from Sienna:
"Hey. Weird bump-in with Blake today. Caught me off guard. Talk soon?"
He didn't respond.
Instead, he opened his notebook. The one he only touched when things got sharp.
---
DAY 5 — ENTRY
Calories: 1450
Training: Deload day. Light stretch + walk
Business: Closed 3rd retainer deal
Emotional:
Sienna = Temporarily unstable variable
Blake = Reminder that timing is power
Lesson = Affection is not ownership. Influence must be earned, again and again.
---
He closed the book, then stared at the wall.
Not angry.
Not even bitter.
Just real.
(Don't assume proximity is possession. And never confuse momentum with security.)
His phone buzzed again.
Another message. This one shorter.
Sienna:
"I'll explain, if you let me."
Ethan stared at the screen.
Then finally typed:
"Dinner. Thursday. 7 PM. No filters."