Episode: 6 One Impossible Offer
652 Words
"Sometimes the future doesn't knock. It quietly asks, 'Are you coming?'"
I didn't answer.
Not because I didn't have one.
Because every answer I could think of frightened me.
Dominic didn't rush to fill the silence.
He never did.
Instead, he waited.
As though he already knew I'd speak when I was ready.
I walked toward my apartment window, looking out at the orange glow settling over the city.
Children were still playing outside.
A taxi slowed at the intersection before disappearing around the corner.
Everything looked exactly the same.
Yet somehow...
Nothing felt the same anymore.
"Iddie?"
"I'm here."
"I asked you a difficult question."
"You did."
"I don't expect an immediate answer."
I smiled faintly.
"You always ask questions no one else asks."
"I've never been interested in ordinary conversations."
"No..."
I whispered.
"I've noticed."
Another quiet chuckle reached my ear.
"I'll ask you something easier."
"Please do."
"If money wasn't a problem..."
"...where would you live?"
The answer escaped before I could stop it.
"Los Angeles."
There was a brief pause.
"I thought so."
I frowned.
"You already knew?"
"I had a feeling."
"How?"
"You've mentioned it more than once."
I blinked.
Had I?
I searched my memory.
Late-night conversations.
Talking about films.
The beaches.
The bookstores I'd always wanted to visit.
The tiny café I'd once seen in a travel vlog.
I had mentioned Los Angeles.
Several times.
"I pay attention," he said quietly, almost as if he'd read my thoughts.
That sentence settled somewhere deep inside me.
Not because it was romantic.
Because it was true.
The following week passed in a blur of lectures, assignments, and half-finished cups of coffee.
I tried convincing myself that our conversation hadn't changed anything.
It was only a question.
Nothing more.
Except...
Every time I walked across campus, I found myself wondering what life would look like somewhere else.
Somewhere bigger.
Somewhere unfamiliar.
Somewhere...
New.
Lindiwe noticed before I did.
"You've been daydreaming."
I looked up from my notebook.
"I have not."
She folded her arms.
"You wrote the word 'California' in the margin of your Criminal Law notes."
My eyes widened.
"I did?"
She turned the notebook toward me.
Sure enough...
Written absentmindedly beside a paragraph on legal principles was one word.
California.
I covered my face with both hands.
"Oh, no."
Lindiwe laughed so hard she almost dropped her bottle of water.
"I've officially lost my best friend to a man she's never met."
"Don't be dramatic."
"I'm not being dramatic."
She leaned closer.
"You like him."
I opened my mouth to deny it.
Nothing came out.
Because somewhere between our late-night conversations...
Between his thoughtful questions...
Between the way he remembered the smallest details...
I'd stopped looking forward to his messages.
I'd started depending on them.
And that realization terrified me.
That evening my phone rang.
Dominic.
"Hi."
"Hi."
"You sound distracted."
"I've had a long day."
"So have I."
I kicked off my shoes and curled up on the couch.
"Busy?"
"Very."
There was a pause.
"I have something to tell you."
Something in his voice made me sit up straighter.
"What is it?"
"My project in Los Angeles has been approved."
"Congratulations."
"Thank you."
"But that's not what I wanted to tell you."
The room suddenly felt very quiet.
"I spoke to someone this morning."
"...About you."
A knot formed in my stomach.
"About me?"
"Iddie..."
His voice remained calm.
Measured.
"I found an opening."
"For what?"
"A legal assistant position."
I stopped breathing.
"It isn't permanent."
"It isn't glamorous."
"But it's real."
My fingers tightened around my phone.
"I don't understand."
"I thought..."
He hesitated.
"...if you're serious about building a future..."
"...you shouldn't have to do it alone."
My heartbeat echoed in my ears.
He couldn't possibly be saying what I thought he was.
"Dominic..."
He took a slow breath.
"Come to Los Angeles."
The words hung between us.
Simple.
Quiet.
Life-changing.
- Writer
