Chapter Four
1038 Words
The shrill sound of Amelia’s alarm echoed through the room, pulling her unwillingly from a restless sleep.
She slowly opened her eyes and immediately frowned as a dull ache spread across her forehead.
“My head…” she mumbled, pressing her fingers against her temples.
The migraine had started the moment she woke up. Between the long wedding ceremony, the endless conversations with relatives, and the emotional roller coaster of the previous day, her body had finally demanded a break.
With a tired sigh, Amelia dragged herself out of bed and shuffled toward the bathroom.
A warm shower helped ease some of the tension, though the headache lingered. After getting dressed in a cream blouse, black trousers, and low heels suitable for another busy day at the event planning company, she walked downstairs to grab a light breakfast.
Her mother looked up from the dining table.
“You don’t look well.”
“I think I’m just tired,” Amelia replied with a faint smile. “Yesterday was… a lot.”
“Take some painkillers before you leave.”
“I will.”
After breakfast, Amelia returned upstairs to gather the things she needed for work.
She reached for the handbag she had carried to the wedding, intending to use it again. As she checked inside to make sure everything was there, her fingers brushed against a thick piece of paper.
Curious, she pulled it out.
A neatly designed black-and-white business card rested in her hand.
The moment she read the name printed across it, yesterday’s memories rushed back.
Ethan Brooks.
Her heart skipped a beat.
“I completely forgot…”
She remembered the way he had smiled before handing it to her.
“If you’d ever like to have coffee… give me a call.”
Amelia stared at the card for several moments before slowly sitting on the edge of her bed.
Without thinking, she leaned back against the pillows.
“What am I supposed to do now?”
Still holding the card, she reached for her phone and dialed the one person she knew would have an opinion.
Lily answered almost immediately.
“Good morning! Why are you calling this early?”
Amelia laughed softly.
“I need to tell you something.”
“Oh? This sounds interesting already.”
“You remember that man from the wedding…”
“The handsome one?”
“Lily!”
“What? Continue.”
Amelia sighed before telling her everything—from finding the forgotten business card to the thoughts that had kept creeping into her mind since yesterday.
By the time she finished, Lily was practically squealing over the phone.
“Amelia Carter… what are you waiting for?”
“I’m not waiting.”
“Then call him.”
Amelia looked down at the card once more.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“It’s… complicated.”
Lily frowned on the other end of the call.
“Complicated how?”
Amelia remained silent, unable to explain the fear that was holding her back.
Several miles away, Ethan Brooks sat behind the large glass windows of his office, but his attention was nowhere near the documents spread across his desk.
His phone lay beside his laptop, the screen lighting up every few minutes with emails, work notifications, and messages from colleagues. Each time it lit up, his heart skipped ever so slightly, only for disappointment to settle in when he realized it wasn’t the call he had been hoping for.
Amelia hadn’t called.
He leaned back in his chair and let out a quiet sigh.
“Maybe she lost the card,” he thought.
A moment later, another possibility crossed his mind.
“Or maybe she simply isn’t interested.”
For reasons he couldn’t explain, that thought bothered him more than it should have. He had only known Amelia for a few minutes, yet there had been something about her that stayed with him. She wasn’t trying to impress anyone. She was kind, genuine, and refreshingly different from the people he met every day.
A knock on the office door interrupted his thoughts.
“Come in,” Ethan called.
His younger brother, Daniel, stepped inside with two cups of coffee.
“You’ve been staring at your phone all morning,” Daniel said, placing one cup on the desk. “Waiting for an important call?”
Ethan picked up the coffee and took a small sip.
“You could say that.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow and smirked.
“Let me guess… the beautiful lady from the wedding?”
Ethan looked up in surprise.
“How did you know?”
Daniel laughed.
“Because you haven’t stopped checking your phone since you got to the office. That’s not like you.”
Ethan chuckled quietly before shaking his head.
“I gave her my business card.”
“And?”
“Nothing.”
“No call. No text.”
Daniel leaned against the desk with a grin.
“Maybe she’s trying to keep you waiting.”
“Or maybe she threw the card away.”
“I don’t think so,” Daniel replied confidently. “From the way she looked at you yesterday, I’d say she was just as curious as you were.”
Ethan didn’t respond, but Daniel’s words gave him a tiny spark of hope.
The rest of the day passed in a blur of meetings and phone calls, yet Amelia remained in the back of his mind. Every free moment, his eyes drifted to his phone, expecting it to ring.
It never did.
By the time he arrived home that evening, he was mentally exhausted. After a quick dinner, he changed into comfortable clothes and lay on his bed with his phone in his hand.
He unlocked the screen one last time.
Still nothing.
A faint smile crossed his lips as he shook his head.
“I guess fate only works twice,” he murmured to himself.
Within minutes, sleep slowly overtook him. His phone slipped from his hand onto the bed beside him as he drifted off, unaware that somewhere across the city, Amelia was still holding his business card, wondering whether she should make the call that could change both of their lives forever.
- Writer
