rough Ethan's phone, a familia

d it? Submitted

bare wall of his new, e

vid. It'

she hasn't said anything to me.

nt, like he was step

" Ethan confirmed.

ss it. It's cl

both. You're her right hand, her left hand, her damn bra

onfrontation, another round of Tori's carefully constructed

ks, David

n added the li

lth crisis. Aunt in Chicago

't want pity, and he certainly didn't want Tori trying t

d condo in Tori's building in Manhattan. That place had been a gilded cage, a perk designed

tarted to surf

the Sterling family pressure cooker for a while, Ethan just trying

roduced him to

But there was a flicker of something else too, a vulnerability she quickly masked. They'd worked late, fue

ars later when he applied for

hadn't faded. They'd solidifie

n at Tori's side opened up. Ethan, with his sharp financial mind,

r. To support

ope, he kne

gone south at the last minute, a public embarrassment for Tori. He'd foun

upport. One drink led to another. Shar

up at her

the scent of her perfume, and a desperate

ot just the air in her steril

island, already dressed in a severe busine

oid of the previous night's emoti

d it, but it

rtain feelings for me,

hen reached f

cate that. This," she gestured vaguely between them, "can't happen a

book. "For your discre

he assumption he could be b

ook, then at her. His v

ant your m

h. This was it,

A. I'll be whatever you ne

ker of surpri

e picture, properly back, I'm go

a long moment, her e

lmost impercepti

cceptance. He'

r years of a str

coffee order, her travel preferences, the subtle tells of her business

d the loneliness or stress became too much for her, she would cal

s, in being the one she turned to, even if it was onl

a small, independent jewelry designer she admired. He'd spent weeks tracki

table, waiting for her signal. She was suppos

call from her, but a n

count. A

hand with Chase Albright. Her other

id YES! To forever with my o

omach

phone r

ame up. With Chase. Can't mak

t, distant, already

She h

r obliviousness to what she was doing to him. It was

ng time, the gift box f

arted packing a small overnight bag, a reflex.

out. It was filled with his notes, observations about Tori, half-formed poems, sketch

open on

ened. Tori. She must h

eyes scanning the room. "Seen m

scattered papers with his ha

blink. Stepped

, then left, a waft of her expensive p

t seen hi

night. He didn't know where he was going. The rain started

th him. Pain shot up his leg, sharp and sickening. He lay there f

partment in Queens later that night, the one he kept fo

uzzed. A te

be it's for the best, Ethan. Time for you to move on. Find someone

cern. A final, pat

e sofa, his ankle throb

o – the journal, a pen she'd once left on his desk, a photo from a

and dropped them into th

uck a

ges of the paper, turn his carefully

to move on. F