SHADOWS OF BEFORE
419 Words
Shadows of Before
Three weeks later,Ava received an email that knocked the air out of her lungs.
Subject: Exclusive Creative Director Role – Paris.
Body:
Miss Morgan,we’re offering you a leadership role at Atelier Verne,starting next month in Paris.Full relocation covered.Salary above market rate.We followed your work from New York and would be honoured to have you onboard.
She read it three times.
Then closed the laptop.
Then opened it again.
She should’ve been thrilled.This was everything she’d worked for.Respect.Money.Recognition.
But all she felt was conflict.
Ethan was in the kitchen,singing off-key while making breakfast.His voice reached her like background music.
She didn’t tell him.
Not yet.
That night,she sat on the balcony,a blanket over her shoulders,phone in hand.
She called Mia.
“I got a job offer.”
“Okay…and?”
“Paris.”
Mia paused.
“Big deal.”
“Very.”
“Do you want it?”
“I did.Before.Before all this.Before Ethan.Before now.”
“Then what’s stopping you?”
Ava rubbed her temple.
“Because it feels like leaving again.”
“Isn’t that what second chances are?Choosing again?”
Ava stayed quiet.
Mia’s voice softened.“You still love him?”
“Yes.”
“But do you love yourself more?”
That question stuck.
The next morning,Ethan found her already dressed,coffee in hand,staring out the window.
“You okay?”
“I got an offer,”she said flatly.“Paris.Creative Director.Big deal.”
He didn’t speak right away.
Then he nodded.
“You gonna take it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You should.”
Her head snapped toward him.
“What?”
“You earned this,Ava.This was the dream before me.And dreams shouldn’t die for anyone.”
She looked down.
“So you want me to leave?”
“No,”he said firmly.“I want you to fly.I’ll never be the man who holds you back.”
Her voice broke a little.
“You’re not.You never were.”
He stepped forward,touched her hand gently.
“If we’re real,this won’t break us.”
“And if we’re not?”
“Then we end before we lie.”
She spent the next few days weighing everything.
Paris.Ethan.Herself.
Was love supposed to require sacrifice?Or compromise?
One night,she packed a suitcase.
He watched her silently.
“Trial trip,”she said.“Just a few weeks.I’ll see if it fits.”
He nodded once.“I’ll be here.If it doesn’t.”
She didn’t kiss him goodbye.
But she looked back.
Twice.
- Writer
