Chapter 14 – When Distance Feels
927 Words
Charlotte had decided one thing the moment she woke up.
She was going to avoid Alexander Hayes.
Not because she was afraid of him.
But because she wasn’t sure she trusted herself around him anymore.
The memory of yesterday still lingered in her mind. The way he had looked at her. The way he had stepped closer. The way she hadn’t moved away.
That was the problem.
She should have moved.
“Focus,” she muttered under her breath, flipping through her notes as she walked into the hall.
Everything was almost ready. The wedding was getting closer, and there was no room for distractions.
No room for him.
“Charlotte.”
Her steps faltered for just a second.
She didn’t turn immediately.
“I’m busy,” she said, keeping her eyes on the clipboard in her hand.
There was a pause.
Then, “You’ve been busy for two days straight.”
She exhaled slowly and turned. “That’s called doing my job.”
Alexander stood a few feet away, watching her with that same unreadable expression.
“You’re avoiding me,” he said.
“I’m working.”
“You’re avoiding me while working.”
Charlotte resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Do you always make everything about yourself?”
“Only when it involves me.”
“It doesn’t.”
He took a step closer. “It does.”
Her heartbeat quickened, and she hated that it did.
“I don’t have time for this,” she said, turning away and moving toward the table arrangements.
Alexander followed.
Of course he did.
“You didn’t answer me,” he said.
“There’s nothing to answer.”
“There is.”
Charlotte placed a vase down a little harder than necessary. “Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“This,” she said, turning to face him. “Pushing.”
His gaze didn’t waver. “Because you’re running.”
“I’m not running.”
“You are.”
“I’m not.”
“Then look at me and say that.”
Charlotte opened her mouth—
And stopped.
The words wouldn’t come out.
Alexander noticed.
“That’s what I thought,” he said quietly.
Her chest tightened. “This is pointless.”
“No,” he replied. “Ignoring it is pointless.”
“Ignoring what?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he stepped closer again, closing the distance she kept trying to create.
“This,” he said softly.
The space between them disappeared.
Charlotte’s breath caught.
“You’re making this complicated,” she whispered.
“I think you already did that.”
Her heart pounded louder.
“I told you,” she said, trying to hold onto control. “This is a mistake.”
“Then why does it feel like it’s not?”
The question hit her harder than she expected.
She looked at him, really looked this time.
And for a moment, she didn’t see the arrogance.
She didn’t see the teasing.
She saw something else.
Something real.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” she said, but her voice lacked conviction.
“It means enough,” he replied.
Charlotte shook her head, stepping back again. “You don’t even like me.”
Alexander let out a quiet breath, almost like a laugh. “You still believe that?”
“You argue with me all the time.”
“Because you challenge me.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“No,” he agreed. “It’s not.”
Silence fell between them.
But this time, it wasn’t sharp or tense.
It was heavy.
Charlotte turned away first, grabbing a stack of papers just to keep her hands busy.
“This can’t happen,” she said.
“Why not?”
“Because this is temporary,” she replied. “The wedding ends, and everything goes back to normal.”
“And you want that?”
She hesitated.
That was her answer.
Alexander stepped closer again, but this time, slower.
More careful.
“You’re lying to yourself,” he said quietly.
Charlotte swallowed. “Maybe I am.”
The honesty surprised both of them.
“And that doesn’t scare you?” he asked.
“It does.”
“Then why are you still here?”
She looked up at him.
Because she didn’t want to leave.
But she couldn’t say that.
Instead, she said, “Because I have a job to finish.”
Alexander studied her for a moment.
Then he nodded slowly.
“Right,” he said. “Your job.”
Something about the way he said it felt… different.
Less teasing.
More distant.
And for some reason, that bothered her more than anything else.
He stepped back.
Actually stepped back.
“Don’t worry,” he added. “I won’t get in your way anymore.”
Charlotte frowned slightly. “What does that mean?”
“It means,” he said, already turning away, “you won’t have to avoid me.”
And just like that, he walked off.
Charlotte stood there, frozen.
That wasn’t what she expected.
That wasn’t what she wanted.
A strange feeling settled in her chest.
Because for the first time
He wasn’t chasing her.
And somehow
That felt worse.
She looked down at the papers in her hand, but the words blurred.
Her thoughts were somewhere else.
On him.
On what just happened.
And on one realization she couldn’t ignore anymore.
Maybe the problem wasn’t Alexander Hayes.
Maybe
It was how much she was starting to miss him when he wasn’t there.
- Writer
