Chapter 4: What We Shouldn't Have Done
434 Words
The next time it happened, it wasn’t planned.
Ella had just finished her afternoon lecture. She stepped outside the campus gate to find the sky turning grey — thick with the promise of rain.
She sighed. No umbrella. No fare left for a matatu either.
And then, like fate mocking her, the black Audi slid up beside her.
The window rolled down.
Roman.
“You look like you’re one raincloud away from drowning.”
Ella blinked. “You… what are you doing here?”
“Leila asked me to drop something off. Saw you walking. Get in.”
She hesitated. She shouldn’t.
But the clouds rumbled. And he waited.
She got in.
The car ride was quiet at first, the air heavy.
Then Roman glanced over. “You don’t talk much when you’re nervous.”
“I’m not nervous.”
“You’re shaking.”
She looked down. Her hands were trembling.
He turned the music down, pulled the car into a quiet back road near a park — trees thick, shielding the windows.
She frowned. “Why are we—?”
“I need to ask you something,” he said, turning toward her. “And I need you to answer honestly.”
Her mouth went dry. “What?”
His voice dropped, slow and careful. “Do you think about me… when I’m not around?”
Ella’s heart punched her ribs. Her lips parted, but no sound came out.
Roman leaned closer. “Because I do. More than I should.”
She didn’t move.
Didn’t speak.
He reached up, brushed a single braid away from her cheek. His hand hovered there, as if waiting for permission.
When she didn’t stop him, he cupped her face and kissed her.
It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t testing. It was full of the want they’d both buried. All the stares, the small gifts, the space that had kept shrinking between them — it all exploded in that kiss.
Ella gasped, and his hand slid to her waist, pulling her closer. She didn’t stop him. She couldn’t.
The kiss deepened — mouths hungry, hands roaming, the kind of touch that made everything feel forbidden and perfect at the same time.
His lips moved down to her neck, trailing slow, possessive kisses.
She whispered his name.
He pulled back just enough to look at her, eyes dark and fierce. “Tell me to stop.”
She didn’t.
They didn’t go all the way that day. But it didn’t matter.
Because Ella knew the moment she opened that car door and stepped out…
She’d never be the same again.
- Writer
