Chapter Nine – Falling in Between
566 Words
Rossy hadn’t expected Thomas to text again so soon.
But the next morning, a message blinked across her cracked phone screen.
THOMAS: I’m stealing you after work. Don’t argue.
She frowned, smiling in spite of herself. Her fingers hovered above the screen before she finally typed back.
ROSSY: I’m not that easy to steal, you know.
THOMAS: Challenge accepted.
She didn’t know what she was doing, exactly. This man was dangerous in a way her heart wasn’t used to. Not with fists or threats—but with warmth. With quietness. With the way he made her feel like the center of his entire world when he looked at her.
After work, he was waiting—leaning casually against the sleek black car she’d seen him in before, sunglasses tucked in his shirt, hair a bit messy like he’d run his fingers through it one too many times.
He opened the door for her.
“No fancy restaurants?” she asked, sliding in.
“Too loud,” he said. “I want to hear you.”
They ended up at a quiet art gallery—something Rossy never expected.
“I like being around things people created from emotion,” Thomas said as they wandered the open hall. “Things that last even after the person’s gone.”
Rossy looked up at a painting of a faceless woman—red dress, midnight background. “This one looks lonely.”
“She looks like she’s waiting for someone,” Thomas replied softly.
Rossy glanced at him. “You always talk like this?”
He gave a small smile. “Only with you.”
She felt her chest tighten.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
She was supposed to guard herself. Protect her heart. Remind herself that he was not hers, that he was a world apart.
But in moments like this—quiet, unhurried, real—those thoughts slipped away.
Later, they sat on a bench just outside the gallery. The sky was painted with streaks of gold and pink, the evening soft and sweet.
“I used to draw when I was little,” Rossy said out of nowhere.
Thomas turned to her, interested. “Why’d you stop?”
“I didn’t think I was good enough. And life got in the way. Money. Family. School.”
“You were probably better than you thought.”
She looked down. “You don’t know that.”
“I know how you see the world. You notice things most people don’t.”
Rossy blinked. “How do you know?”
“Because I watch you. Not in a creepy way,” he added quickly, grinning. “Just… the way you listen, how your eyes pause before you speak. You’re always collecting pieces.”
Rossy bit her lip. No one had ever described her that way before.
She turned to face him fully.
“Why me, Thomas? You’re rich. You’re powerful. You could have anyone.”
He hesitated, then said softly, “Because with you, I feel human. Not a CEO. Not a Langston. Just… Thomas.”
Her heart cracked open a little more.
She wanted to say something. Anything.
But instead, she just leaned against him. And he let her. His arm slid around her shoulders as the sky grew darker.
And in that moment, Rossy realized—
This wasn’t just a crush.
She was falling.
And it terrified her.
- Writer
