ght to

lla'

has a night she wis

ne was

efore it happened, it d

t like

ed with

ch of a tech product in Milan-an elite invite-o

t Damian had insisted, forwarding

team now," he had

I c

nothing flashy. But it fit well and for the first ti

s to my lips-more from c

sic. Crystal glasses clinked in the air. Men in tuxedos murmured

how... I

t for a

alcony, cradling a flute o

g like an afterthought. He looked effortlessly undone, l

y, as though it was my n

ering the smallest of sm

his head.

not to roll my eyes.

e, I want to sho

tated.

n't worry. I promise not

t him lead me through the crowd, past the dance floor and t

private terrace. There were no lights here-just the glow of the ci

aid, walking toward the railing. "The city,

rms. "Is that how you see the wo

at me. "Sometimes,

voice-softer, perhaps. He leaned on t

like the oth

mused. "Please don

erious now. "You don't

job. A p

ike them. You're not playing

n like Daniel usually felt like honeyed traps.

s, "my grandmother used to say that still water runs dee

woman,"

d when I

ir sh

ward him. "

n't... connect easily. I've spent years pretending to be the man

allow-handsome and hollow. But tonight, in the dark, beneath a sky with s

r get tired

the t

oment, our silence mor

ked at me d

, not as a game pi

t do this,"

uttered. "T

he

rst, almost unsure. I could have pull

ted to feel

l-my father's failing health, my mother's sacrifices,

wanted some

ssed hi

red, "Come with me

a f

uite was al

ld hav

discreet and dimly lit, the kind of

to a world of soft carpets, velvet curtain

much," I said

e door. "It'

he kissed

this time, urge

replaced by hands and sighs, by butt

oughts unraveled. I stopped ca

moment, I wasn

he daughte

oman some

only for

hotel robe I di

eside me

l was

perfection. The wine glasses were untouche

my skin. My head throbbed-not from wine

No note, no call

sil

on the bed. I left without telling anyone. I

nted to d

sick the n

r, I

wasn't

d a fever of shame, of disbelief or of the awful, sinkin

didn'

't t

ed at me like nothing had happened. Like we ha

f myself scattered across th

ed pol

ed,

de, I wa

iss, or the night. I

at in rooms I never dreamed of entering, I had l

sn't just

a girl from the s

, easy dismissal-reminded me

till in

.. dis