Third Person POV
Harrison sat motionless behind the wheel long after Xavier’s car disappeared into traffic.
The engine wasn’t running.
The air conditioning wasn’t on.
Yet the inside of the vehicle felt strangely suffocating.
His fingers rested against the steering wheel.
Tight.
Rigid.
Unconsciously tense.
Across the street, the café windows reflected fragments of the city.
People walking.
Cars moving.
Life continuing.
And somewhere inside that ordinary afternoon, he had witnessed something that unsettled him more than he cared to admit.
Raina had smiled.
Not politely.
Not out of obligation.
Not because she was trying to keep peace.
A real smile.
Small.
Natural.
Effortless.
The kind he couldn’t remember seeing directed at him in years.
And somehow…
that bothered him.
