Almost Something
1016 Words
Adrian arrived at Mirabelle Café twenty minutes later.
Sophia noticed him immediately through the glass windows before he even stepped inside.
Of course she did.
Tall.
Dark navy shirt.
Sleeves rolled neatly again.
Phone in one hand.
Calm presence.
The kind that somehow changed the atmosphere of a room without trying.
Vivian noticed too.
“Oh,” she whispered softly. “That’s him?”
Sophia frowned. “Why are you saying it like that?”
Vivian looked suspiciously entertained.
“Nothing.”
Dangerous answer.
Before Sophia could interrogate further, Adrian reached their table.
His gaze landed on Sophia first automatically.
Always first.
Then shifted toward Vivian with a polite smile.
“You must be Vivian.”
Vivian blinked immediately. “How do you know my name?”
Sophia answered flatly before Adrian could.
“He observes too much.”
“Occupational hazard,” Adrian replied calmly.
Vivian laughed softly while Adrian pulled out the chair beside Sophia.
Not across.
Beside.
Sophia became painfully aware of that immediately.
Annoying.
“You skipped lunch,” Adrian said casually while sitting down.
Sophia narrowed her eyes.
“You came here just to accuse me nutritionally?”
“You sound defensive for someone guilty.”
Vivian covered her smile with her drink.
Traitor number two.
Adrian finally glanced toward Vivian properly.
“How’s Jakarta treating you so far?”
The question sounded genuine.
Vivian relaxed almost instantly.
“It’s louder than I expected.”
“That feeling never goes away.”
Sophia watched quietly as they talked.
And something strange happened.
Adrian didn’t force conversation.
Didn’t dominate attention.
Didn’t perform charm the way most men did.
He simply made people comfortable.
Even Vivian, who looked nervous around almost everyone, slowly began smiling more naturally.
Sophia hated how attractive emotional safety was becoming.
Dangerous.
Again.
⸻
An hour later, they walked together through Senopati while evening sunlight faded slowly into gold.
Vivian stopped briefly near a bookstore window.
“I’ll be quick,” she said. “I want to check something inside.”
Sophia nodded.
The moment Vivian disappeared into the store, Adrian spoke quietly beside her.
“You were kind to her.”
Sophia crossed her arms immediately.
“Don’t sound surprised.”
“I’m not.” He glanced at her softly. “You just pretend not to care more often.”
Sophia looked away toward the traffic.
“She’s not responsible for him.”
“No.”
The answer came easily now.
Because spending time with Vivian felt less like facing betrayal and more like looking at collateral damage.
Another daughter trying to survive emotional consequences she never chose.
“She apologizes too much,” Sophia muttered.
Adrian hummed quietly beside her.
“So do you.”
Sophia frowned immediately. “I literally never apologize.”
“You apologize through avoidance.”
The accuracy irritated her instantly.
“Do you enjoy psychoanalyzing people?”
“Only you.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked at her then.
Really looked.
And suddenly the air between them shifted.
Slower.
Heavier.
“Because you matter to me,” he said quietly.
Sophia’s heartbeat stumbled once.
Dangerous.
So dangerously direct.
The city noise around them suddenly felt distant.
Cars.
People.
Traffic.
Everything blurred behind the weight of that sentence.
Because Adrian didn’t flirt carelessly.
Didn’t say things just to create tension.
When he spoke seriously, it felt intentional.
Which made it harder to dismiss.
Sophia looked away first.
Again.
“You barely know me.”
“I know enough.”
“You know the polished version.”
Adrian stepped slightly closer—not enough to invade her space, just enough that she caught the faint scent of rain and cedar drifting between them again.
“No,” he said softly. “I think I know the exhausted version too.”
Her chest tightened painfully.
Too close.
Emotionally too close.
Sophia opened her mouth to deflect the moment—
Then froze.
Across the street, her father stood beside a restaurant entrance laughing with a woman Sophia had never seen before.
Young.
Beautiful.
Hand on his arm.
Not her mother.
Not Vivian’s mother either.
Someone new.
Sophia felt the familiar nausea immediately.
Even now.
Still.
Adrian noticed the change in her expression instantly.
“Sophia?”
She laughed softly in disbelief.
“Unbelievable.”
Her father looked up at the same moment.
And for one terrible second—
their eyes met across the street.
The smile vanished from his face immediately.
Guilt.
Panic.
Recognition.
Sophia felt humiliation crash over her so suddenly she couldn’t breathe properly.
Twenty-eight years old.
Successful.
Independent.
And somehow her father still had the power to make her feel like a wounded child standing inside that apartment again.
“I need to go,” she said quickly.
Adrian’s voice gentled immediately. “Sophia—”
“I said I need to go.”
Too sharp.
Too fast.
Vivian emerged from the bookstore at the worst possible moment.
She followed Sophia’s line of sight across the street.
Then went pale instantly.
“Oh.”
The single syllable carried too much understanding.
Their father noticed Vivian now too.
And suddenly he looked trapped.
Good.
Sophia wanted him trapped.
Embarrassed.
Exposed.
Small.
For once.
But instead of anger, exhaustion hit her hardest.
Because nothing changed.
Not really.
New woman.
New lies.
New damage waiting to happen.
Same man.
Vivian lowered her eyes slowly beside her.
And unexpectedly—
Sophia reached for her hand first.
The movement surprised both of them.
Vivian looked shocked.
Sophia felt shocked herself.
But she didn’t let go.
Across the street, her father started moving toward them.
Absolutely not.
Sophia turned immediately.
“Come on.”
Vivian followed without question.
Adrian stayed beside them both silently while they walked away through the crowd and city noise.
Protective.
Steady.
Present.
Sophia didn’t realize she was still holding Vivian’s hand until Adrian quietly took her car keys from her trembling fingers and guided them toward his car as rain began falling again.
And somehow—
for the first time in her life—
Sophia stopped feeling like she was surviving her family alone.
- Writer
