Elisse and William past:
*****
The first time I met William,
He was just a man standing in the rain, holding the door open for strangers like it mattered.
I noticed that first.
I had arrived late at the charity forum soaked, irritated, mentally rehearsing an exit. These events were usually performative, filled with people who wanted to look generous without ever being kind.
Then I saw him.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. A little awkward in a suit he wasn’t fully comfortable wearing. His hair damp from the rain, his jaw tense as if he’d been thinking too hard about something that refused to resolve.
When I passed him, he smiled—quick, unpracticed.
“You’re going to catch a cold,” he said.
“So are you,” I replied.
He shrugged. “Worth it.”
That should’ve been my warning.
The Man Without
