EPISODE 4: THE PRICE OF CLOSENESS
342 Words
Alessia stopped pretending she could avoid him.
Because no matter how far she tried to go, Dominic always appeared closer than before.
Sometimes it was a message left without explanation.
Sometimes it was a car that arrived exactly when she needed it.
Other times, it was silence—too controlled to be accidental.
And with every encounter, the boundary between fear and something deeper blurred.
One night, she finally confronted him.
“I don’t understand what game you’re playing,” she said.
Dominic stood near her balcony, looking out at the city below like it belonged to him.
“It’s not a game.”
“Then what is it?”
A long pause.
When he turned to her, his expression was different. Less controlled. More exposed.
“That night in the bookstore,” he said slowly, “I told myself it would end there.”
Alessia frowned slightly. “End what?”
He stepped closer.
The space between them shrank.
“Whatever this is.”
Her breath caught, but she didn’t move away.
“That’s not an answer,” she whispered.
“It’s the only honest one I have.”
For the first time, Alessia saw something behind his calm exterior.
Conflict.
Something like restraint… breaking.
“You don’t let people in,” she said quietly.
“I don’t survive if I do.”
That line stayed in the air like smoke.
And then, softer—
“But you’re already inside.”
Before she could respond, his phone rang sharply.
His entire expression changed instantly—cold returning like armor.
He answered, voice low and sharp.
“Yes.”
A pause.
Then:
“I’ll handle it.”
He ended the call.
And looked at Alessia like something had just shifted permanently.
“You should stay inside tonight,” he said.
“Why?”
His jaw tightened slightly.
“Because someone just made a mistake. And I’m going to fix it.”
Then he left.
And Alessia realized, too late, that she was no longer outside his world.
She was in it.
Completely.
- Writer
