Luca Rhezan sat up fast, breath sharp, hand pressed to his chest, he'd slept late and was up again.
He never remembered much, only the look of relief on her face, as she walked towards him and then nothing, like a door shutting before the light.
He checked the time. 5:00 am. " Great" he murmured, frustrated.
He quickly freshened up and poured himself coffee, he wouldn't drink. He paced restlessly, dancing with an idea in his head, he stopped and then paced again.
"This is ridiculous," he muttered to the empty room. "Congratulations, Rhezan, Time to add the stalker title."
He laughed once, dry. Then he grabbed his keys anyway.
The address he was heading to, sat in a mail from Amira.
He told himself he was following up on a catering note, since when did Billionaire's do that he queried himself, acutely aware of his irrational actions, but then again he told himself a lot of things these days to justify the weird occurrences.
In the moment however, only one truth existed and it was simple, he couldn't take one more hour of not knowing if the woman he saw briefly two nights ago really looked like the one in his dreams or portrait.
****
Concurrently, that same night, Tani slept and mirrored him as usual. There was music in the ballroom with a low hum.
She smiled and nodded with acknowledgement, when people passed her, but her eyes kept drifting to the doorway.
He always came when the room held its breath like this.
A pause. A hush. The sense of someone important arriving, but it wasn't happening tonight.
She tightened her fingers around a glass she wasn't drinking from as the hum under the music grew louder. She turned away, the cloying smell of the different perfumes in the air, was becoming annoying.
Then the lights flickered and the doors opened.
A figure stood there, tall, steady, familiar in the way that made her heart beat erratic.
Finally her lover had arrived
Tani stepped forward, hasty to join him, but he was trying to say something but his voice sounded far away.
She blinked and he was gone in an instant.
She stayed by herself, sulking in a space meant for laughter, thinking hard about where on earth he'd disappeared to.
Tani opened her eyes and spotted Rhea lying still, she seemed deep in sleep, tucked under the sheets.
She glanced at the mess she called her life, figuring any day now - someone'd show up to fix it.
She cpouldn't help the hollow chuckle that slipped out; she'd caught herself being ridiculous.
She got up, put clothes on without thinking, pulled her hair back, then headed down to unlock the shop - She had to keep going, no one was coming to save her.
As Tani reached the bakery's entrance, she slipped the key toward the lock and then stopped as she noticed she wasn't alone.
Someone was there. A weight in the air. A presence. She looked behind and her eyes and mouth flew wide open as he stepped out of the shadow.
There he was in the flesh. The man who looked exactly like her dream lover, whose name she never got to know. He was tall. Broad through the shoulders. Black coat and hair wet with morning dew.
He looked like he'd been there for a while, waiting.
He had the kind of face that commanded stares in admiration, as his gaze held hers unwavering like he never planned on letting her out of his sight for one second.
He spoke first.
"Miss Zhani?" The voice hit like déjà vu.
"I'm Luca Rhezan"
"Mr. Rhezan," she managed to answer, because anything else would have been too much.
He smiled, a small curve that was more habit than joy. What he was feeling was extreme confusion and shock.
"I was in the area. Thought I'd see what kind of trouble your pastries are causing."
"That's flattering and shocking, you could have just sent someone." What was she saying? She asked herself, irritated.
"I prefer surprises." He winked, and she died a million times and went to heaven.
She smiled nervously as she worked the lock. The bell gave its small, bright note.
Inside smelled like butter, sugar, and rain sneaking underneath the door. She clicked the lights on. He stepped in, hands in his coat pockets, taking everything in like an investor and her man.
His eyes kept drifting back to her face.
"You remind me of someone," he said.
"Do I?" She tried to make it light, while shattering a thousand times within.
"Yes," he said slowly. "Someone I can't quite…" He shook his head, almost smiling at himself. "Never mind."
"Coffee?" she asked.
"Please. Whatever you recommend." He leaned on the counter. "I usually don't eat pastry."
"You will today," she said, managing a measured smile, she didn't want the excitement to make a fool of her. "House rule."
He watched her hands as she worked, steady, quick, the smallest tremor at the edge.
She felt him watching and told herself not to look up. She looked up.
Their eyes locked and held longer than was polite.
"Strange," he said softly. "Feels like I've been here before."
"I wouldn't know," she said, acting carefree and they both heard it.
She chose one of her best pastries, golden edges, warm center and set it beside his coffee.
"It's on the house," she added quickly. "I'm testing a new recipe."
He raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
She nodded.
Luca picked up the cinnamon roll first and took a slow bite.
Everything in him stilled.
His breath left him, almost imperceptibly. His eyes flicked up, a recognition he couldn't place, a pull he didn't understand.
The taste hit him like déjà vu.
It tasted like home..
He swallowed, eyes still locked on her.
"This is…" He exhaled a quiet laugh, surprised at himself. "Exceptional."
Tani felt heat crawl up her neck. "Thank you. I…I just tried a new recipe."
He wasn't listening anymore.
He was staring.
Not in a rude way. In a way that said you feel like a memory I should know.
"You sound surprised."
"I am," he said, and meant every ounce of it as he stuffed his face with the Tart.
"But you don't seem surprised to see me at all beautiful, you do recognise me."
Tani smiled, relieved she wasn't the only one that remembered, but she was afraid to admit, to ramble like a mad woman.
"I guess the reason, Rhezan global's CEO, is on this side of the city, is a little more than pastries." she jabbed back.
None of them dared mention their dreams.
He smiled, She's feisty, he thought. He liked feisty.
They stood there, the room felt smaller than it actually was and there were only two people. Neither spoke to the other, just staring. Perhaps, a single word might have stopped what came next.
He stepped closer. She didn't move or flinch. The closer they got to each other, the more intense their gaze was. In moments, the inevitability of a shared kiss happened.
The world spinned as their lips locked. No rush, no grab, just the soft pull of two magnets that had run out of reasons to resist.
The kiss was brief, warm and soft. A single stolen mpment which tasted of something she didn't have the nerve to name.
As if suddenly coming to their senses, they both jerked back at the same time. "That shouldn't have happened …I don't know what came over me, I'm sorry…" but the word lacked convictions, he just couldn't help himself around the woman who had stepped out of his dreams.
"Don't," she said, and the word came out a whisper.
He looked at her like a man startled by his own reflection. A quiet, rueful smile. "If I start showing up at your door every morning, you're allowed to call security."
She chuckled.
Then he straightened, as if he suddenly remembered he had a life somewhere else, far away from the forsaken sector of the town..
He cleared his throat. "Do you take personal orders?"
Her heart stuttered. "Um… yes. Yes, I do."
"Good." He pulled out his wallet, slid a card across the counter. "Send a dozen to the address on the back. And… add whatever you made today."
Her fingers brushed the card. Warmth passed between them like static.
"Of course."
A small pause. A look that said more than any plan. Then he headed for the door.
The bell chimed as he turned back to look again, letting the cool air slid in with him at the door, as if memorising and immortalizing the moment.
He then disappeared.
Tani pressed her fingers to her mouth after he was gone. She had stopped breathing and didn't even realise it,until she exhaled.
"He is real, he's real" she kept repeating to herself as she steadied herself to go share the news with Rhea finally.
She wasn't going crazy after all and for one reckless beat, she thought the world might finally be kind to her.
Upstairs, Rhea stood face imprinted on the window and watched it all unfold, eyes closed. Dark duvet wrapped around her, still as stone.
"FUCK!" Rhea whispered, as she opened her eyes.