CHAPTER 3: things left unsaid
984 Words
Chapter 3: Things Left Unsaid
The next few days passed in a blur of client meetings and ignored text messages.
Kaeynna tried to drown herself in work. Her design firm had just landed a new fashion brand, and she should’ve been thrilled—but her brain kept circling back to stormy eyes and rain-soaked conversations.
She hadn’t given Calix her number. Hadn’t even said goodbye properly. And yet he lingered in her mind like an echo she couldn’t shake.
Worse, Samantha was suspiciously quiet.
Which, in Samantha-speak, meant she was absolutely up to something.
Kaeynna found out exactly what that something was the following Friday when she walked into their usual café for their weekly “therapy latte” session—only to find Calix sitting at her usual table.
With Samantha.
Laughing.
She froze.
Calix spotted her first. His expression flickered with something unreadable—hope? Amusement? A challenge?
“Kaeynna!” Samantha said, way too brightly. “Look who I bumped into on the street!”
Kaeynna slowly approached the table, expression flat. “Wow. What are the odds?”
“Crazy, right?” Samantha grinned. “So I invited him to join us. Don’t murder me.”
“I might.”
Calix stood. “I can go if you’d prefer.”
Kaeynna stared at him. And then, against her better judgment, sat down. “No. Stay. We’re already being wildly inappropriate, might as well see it through.”
He smiled faintly. “Nice to see you again, too.”
Samantha quickly excused herself—traitor—and left them alone.
Kaeynna stirred her coffee, refusing to meet his eyes. “So. You’re still haunting my city.”
“I live here.”
“How convenient.”
“You’re mad at me?”
“No,” she said sharply. “I’m mad at her.”
“But you’re talking to me like I started a war.”
She exhaled, finally looking up. “You just show up everywhere.”
He studied her for a beat. “Or maybe you keep showing up where I am.”
She opened her mouth—and had no comeback. Annoying man.
“I’m not chasing you, Kaeynna,” he added. “But I’m not running either.”
There it was again—that calm, unwavering presence that made her heart stutter.
“You said you don’t do relationships,” she said quietly.
“I don’t. Not the usual kind. But I think people meet for reasons.”
She sipped her drink. “I’m not a reason. I’m just... a person. Trying to be left alone.”
“Are you?”
She hated how he could do that—poke holes in her armor with a single question.
“Why do you care?” she asked.
Calix leaned forward slightly, his voice low. “Because when you stood in that lobby in the middle of the night, you looked like someone who hadn’t let anyone close in a long time. And then you did. For me.”
She tensed. “That wasn’t letting you close.”
“Then let me earn that.”
Kaeynna stared at him. “Why me?”
He smiled, soft and sad. “Because I’ve been photographing strangers for years—and I’ve never wanted to know the story behind a pair of eyes more than I do yours.”
She almost dropped her cup.
Before she could answer, her phone buzzed. A work call. Perfect timing.
“I have to go,” she muttered, grabbing her bag.
Calix didn’t stop her.
But just before she walked out, he called after her, “I’ll be at the park on 5th tomorrow morning. Around 9. Bring coffee. Or don’t.”
She didn’t turn around.
Didn’t give him a yes.
But part of her already knew—she’d be there.
---
The next morning, Kaeynna stared at her closet like it was a war zone. She was not dressing up. It wasn’t a date.
She grabbed the least romantic outfit possible—oversized hoodie, jeans, and no makeup. Coffee in hand, she walked toward the park like someone heading to court.
But when she spotted Calix sitting on the bench, camera in his lap, her breath still hitched.
He looked like he belonged in a dream. Like someone who would shatter it if you got too close.
“You came,” he said, standing.
“I was bored.”
He took the coffee without comment. They sat in silence for a while, watching joggers pass.
Finally, he spoke. “You always this hard to read?”
“Yes.”
“I respect that.”
“You’re not trying to fix me, are you?” she asked.
He chuckled. “No. I like you broken. It’s honest.”
That caught her off guard.
“I mean it,” he added. “Most people hide the mess. You wear it like armor.”
She shrugged. “I’ve learned it’s safer.”
He nodded. “It is.”
They sat for a while longer, words hanging between them like threads too delicate to pull.
Eventually, he turned to her. “Can I take one photo?”
She shook her head.
“Just one.”
“No.”
“You don’t have to pose. Just… exist.”
She hesitated. Then, slowly, nodded.
He lifted the camera. Click.
She flinched.
“That’s it,” he said gently.
“You’re not going to show me?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re not ready to see yourself the way I do.”
That was too much. She stood.
“I should go.”
Calix looked up at her, calm as ever. “Okay.”
But as she walked away, his voice followed.
“You’re not just someone I want to photograph, Kaeynna. You’re someone I want to remember.”
She didn’t look back.
But her heart did.
- Writer
