The invitation came on a Wednesday morning, tucked into Aria's inbox like it had every right to be there. Subject line: "Promotion Opportunity: Senior Creative Director - Paris Branch."Paris.
She stared at the screen for a long time, rereading the words like they were a foreign language. And in a way, they were. This was everything she used to want. The escape. The fresh start. The chance to prove she could be more than what her past had turned her into.
But now… she wasn't so sure.
The kiss with Kai had fractured something in her. Or maybe it had revealed the fracture that had always been there deep, fault-lined, waiting for a tremor.
She could still feel the imprint of his mouth on hers when she closed her eyes. She could still hear the ragged way he had whispered her name like it meant something sacred. And God help her, she wanted more. But wanting more came with risk. And Aria had spent too long building walls around her heart to let them fall for a man who had once been her enemy.
when she passed Kai in the hallway that morning, his eyes met hers like he already knew.
He always did.
"Paris?" he asked that evening, standing in her doorway, his voice hushed like he was afraid saying the word out loud would make it real.
Aria didn't look at him. "It's just a conversation."
"It's not," he said. "It's a choice."
She turned. "So what would you rather I choose?"
Kai stepped closer, the air between them thick with tension. "Us."
"Us?" she echoed, almost laughing. "There is no us."
"There could be."
She stared at him. He looked exhausted, undone in that quiet, magnetic way he always did when he was fighting something he didn't know how to win. Except this time, she was the thing he might lose.
"You left once," she said. "Walked away like I never mattered. What's stopping you from doing it again?"
"You are."
His voice cracked.
"Because I still think about the last time I kissed you. And now that I've kissed you again, Aria… I don't want to live without that."
Her breath caught in her throat. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't.
"You should go," she said instead.
He didn't move.
"I mean it, Kai."
Still, he stood there but just before she broke, a knock sounded at the door behind him.
They both turned.
Brielle. Holding a slim black folder in one hand and confusion written all over her face.
"Oh," she said, glancing between them. "Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt."
Aria's spine straightened. "What is it?"
Brielle hesitated, her eyes darting quickly between them again taking in Kai's open collar, Aria's bare feet, the unmistakable air of intimacy that clung to the room like smoke.
"I was just… I heard you might be up for the Paris role," Brielle said, offering the folder. "HR said you hadn't responded, and they asked me to follow up."
Aria took it. "Thanks."
Brielle lingered a second longer. Her gaze flicked back to Kai.
"Didn't realize you two were… close," she said lightly, almost with a smile.
"We're not," Aria replied a beat too fast.
Brielle's expression didn't change, but something in her eyes sharpened not jealousy exactly, but curiosity.
"Well," she said after a beat, "Paris is an amazing opportunity. You should take it."
"I haven't decided yet."
Brielle's smile was tight. "What's there to decide?"
Then she turned and walked off, heels clicking like punctuation behind her.
Kai watched her go.
"She doesn't know," he said quietly.
"No," Aria agreed. "And I'm not sure I want her to."
After Brielle left, silence fell again between them.
Aria dropped the folder on the table like it burned.
Kai approached slowly, his fingers brushing hers. "You don't owe her an explanation."
"I know."
"And you don't owe me one either. But I'm still standing here."
She looked up at him. "Why?"
"Because I'm terrified of waking up one day knowing I didn't fight for you."
Her chest ached.
She didn't want this to be a war. She didn't want him to fight for her like she was a prize like she needed saving.
But maybe… just maybe… She wanted to believe she was still worth it.
That night, she didn't answer his texts.
She sat on her balcony with a glass of red wine, staring out over the skyline like it could give her clarity.
Paris was clean. Uncomplicated. Safe.
Kai was not.
He was the past clawing back into her present and she wasn't sure if that was salvation or sabotage.
And now Brielle was watching. Not because she knew, but because she felt it. Something in the way Aria looked at him. Something in the way Kai stopped pretending he didn't still burn for her.
At 2 a.m., she opened the Paris folder. Inside was the contract.
$40,000 signing bonus. Full relocation. A new life.
No Kai.
No history.
No risk.
She stared at the signature line. Then, with shaking fingers, she closed it again.