Episode7.The Night She Let Herself Fall
619 Words
The rooftop garden of the hotel was quiet, lit only by strings of soft golden lights. Dalia stood near the railing, breathing in the cool evening air as the city glittered below her like scattered diamonds. She hugged her arms around her waist , not from the cold, but from the storm inside her chest.
Why am I feeling like this… for him?
Behind her, she heard footsteps. Slow. Sure. Familiar.
Ethan.
“Running away from the party again?” his voice was warm, teasing, yet softer than usual—as though he sensed she needed gentleness tonight.
Dalia turned around slowly. “I’m not running. I just… needed air.”
He took a step closer. “You haven’t been yourself since earlier.”
She lifted a shoulder, avoiding his gaze. “Just a long day.”
He didn’t buy it. Ethan walked past her and stopped at the railing, standing so close that their arms brushed. The accidental touch sent warmth through her skin, making her heart misbehave in her chest.
“You know,” he said quietly, “you can talk to me. Whatever it is… I can take it.”
For someone who always seemed so composed, so untouchable, the sincerity in his voice hit deeper than she expected.
“I’m not used to people wanting to listen,” she whispered.
“I do,” he murmured. “More than I should.”
Dalia looked at him, and for the first time she didn’t see a billionaire or a boss. She saw a man with tired eyes and the same loneliness she carried. A man who had chased success but lost pieces of himself along the way.
“I’m scared,” she confessed. “Every time I start to care about someone, something happens. People leave. It’s like the universe reminds me that I don’t get to keep good things.”
He turned, facing her fully. “I’m not just ‘someone,’ Dalia.”
Her breath caught when Ethan raised his hand, brushing a loose curl behind her ear. His touch was careful, almost hesitant, as if he was waiting for her to pull away.
But she didn’t.
His thumb grazed her cheek as though she was fragile, priceless.
“You make me feel…” Ethan searched for the right word, as though admitting it to himself. “Alive.”
Nobody had ever said that to her.
Dalia swallowed hard. “Why me?”
He exhaled slowly, eyes tracing her face as though she was the best thing he had ever seen.
“Because you’re real. You don’t want anything from me except what I can never buy—my honesty.”
A lump formed in her throat. Her heart trembled with something dangerously close to hope.
She should step back. She should protect herself.
Instead, she whispered, “Ethan…”
And that was all it took.
He tilted her chin up gently, and kissed her.
Not rushed. Not demanding. But slow, deep, and full of every emotion he’d been hiding. His lips tasted like warmth, promise, and the terrifying beginning of something neither of them planned.
Her hands moved to his chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat
strong and steady, like he had been waiting for her.strong and steady, like he had been waiting for her.
When they finally pulled apart, their breath mingled in the space between them.
“We shouldn’t do this…” Dalia murmured, though she didn’t move away.
“Maybe not,” Ethan said, brushing his forehead against hers. “But I don’t want to stop.”
She should have been afraid.
Instead, for the first time in her life, Dalia allowed herself to fall.
And Ethan caught her.
- Writer
