Too Close
1474 Words
Chapter 14 — Too Close
The drive back from the interview felt painfully quiet.
Rain clouds gathered again above Cape Town while city lights slowly flickered alive beneath the darkening sky.
Amara sat in the passenger seat of Jake’s black Mercedes staring out the window, trying to untangle the mess inside her head.
Vanessa’s appearance had changed something.
Not because Amara cared about jealous exes.
But because she saw another side of Jake again.
The dangerous side.
The one constantly fighting to break free.
Yet he controlled himself.
Barely.
Still… he did it.
Jake kept both hands tight on the steering wheel while soft jazz played quietly through the speakers.
Usually silence around people irritated him.
But with Amara, silence somehow felt full instead of empty.
Finally she spoke.
“You almost lost your temper back there.”
Jake exhaled slowly.
“I know.”
The honesty surprised her slightly.
“You recognized it.”
“I’m not blind.”
The city lights reflected against his face briefly as the car stopped at a red light.
He looked exhausted again.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
“Vanessa likes provoking people,” he muttered.
“That’s not really the issue.”
Jake glanced sideways briefly.
“No?”
“The issue is how quickly your anger rises.”
Silence.
Jake’s jaw tightened slightly.
Amara immediately regretted bringing it up.
Not because she feared him.
Because she suddenly understood how personal this struggle truly was for him.
“I’m working on it,” he said quietly after a long pause.
That answer caught her completely off guard.
No defensiveness.
No sarcasm.
Just truth.
Amara looked at him carefully now.
“You mean that.”
Jake laughed softly without humor.
“Believe it or not, I don’t enjoy feeling like this all the time.”
Something in her chest tightened unexpectedly.
Dangerous sympathy again.
She needed to be careful.
Very careful.
The light changed green and Jake drove forward again.
Then suddenly he spoke.
“My mother used to say anger was just grief wearing armor.”
Amara turned toward him slowly.
“She sounds wise.”
“She was.” His grip tightened slightly against the wheel. “Too wise for me.”
Silence settled again.
But softer now.
More vulnerable.
Jake rarely spoke about his mother.
In fact, Amara realized he only became truly honest when Elizabeth Henry entered the conversation somehow.
Interesting.
“What was she like?” Amara asked gently.
For a moment, Jake almost looked surprised by the question.
Then his expression softened slightly.
“She made every room feel calm.”
The answer came immediately.
Without hesitation.
Jake stared ahead at the road while speaking quietly.
“She wasn’t loud or controlling. People just listened to her naturally.” A faint smile touched his lips briefly. “Even me.”
Amara listened silently.
“She used to play piano every Sunday morning,” Jake continued. “The whole house felt alive back then.”
Something about his voice made her chest ache unexpectedly.
Not because of romance.
Because grief still lived inside him so deeply.
“What happened after she died?” Amara asked carefully.
Jake’s expression darkened again.
“My father disappeared into work.” He shrugged lightly. “And I learned how empty people become afterward.”
The sadness in his voice lingered heavily inside the car.
Amara suddenly understood something important.
Jake wasn’t only angry.
He was abandoned emotionally at the exact moment he needed guidance most.
That didn’t excuse his behavior.
But it explained pieces of it.
“Pain changes people,” she said softly.
Jake laughed bitterly.
“That’s one way to describe it.”
Another silence followed.
Then unexpectedly, Jake asked:
“What about you?”
Amara blinked slightly.
“What about me?”
“You always ask questions but never answer them.”
Fair point.
She looked back out the window briefly before speaking.
“My parents died when I was sixteen.”
Jake’s eyes shifted toward her instantly.
“I didn’t know.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know.”
Touché.
Amara folded her hands together quietly.
“After that, everything became survival.” She smiled faintly without humor. “No rich family. No powerful connections. Just work.”
Jake listened carefully.
Interesting.
She carried pain too.
But unlike him, hers became ambition instead of rage.
“How’d you manage?” he asked quietly.
Amara shrugged lightly.
“I didn’t really have a choice.”
The simplicity of the answer hit him harder than expected.
No self-pity.
No dramatics.
Just strength.
Jake suddenly understood why she unsettled him so much.
Amara survived hardship without becoming cruel.
And somewhere deep inside—
Jake feared that meant he had no excuse for who he became.
The car finally stopped outside her apartment building.
Neither moved immediately.
Rain had started falling softly again outside.
“You live here?” Jake asked while studying the modest building.
“Yes.”
“It’s small.”
Amara looked offended instantly.
“And there’s the billionaire speaking again.”
Jake smirked faintly.
“I meant it looks peaceful.”
That surprised her.
She studied him carefully for a second.
Maybe he actually meant it.
“You want to come up?” she asked before thinking properly.
The moment the words left her mouth, both froze slightly.
Dangerous invitation.
Jake’s eyes held hers quietly.
“You sure?”
Amara’s heartbeat quickened slightly.
“No.”
That made him laugh softly.
And somehow that laugh dissolved some of the tension.
“Relax,” Jake said. “I’m not going to attack you.”
“I know.”
The answer came too quickly.
Too honestly.
Jake noticed.
His expression shifted slightly.
Careful now.
Still…
He turned off the engine.
Minutes later, Jake followed Amara upstairs into the small apartment.
The contrast between her world and his hit immediately.
Warm lighting.
Books everywhere.
Fabric samples draped across chairs.
Sketches pinned against walls.
Life.
Real life.
Not cold luxury like his penthouse.
A young woman walked out of the kitchen holding tea before freezing dramatically.
“Oh my God.”
Amara sighed immediately.
“Thandi, behave.”
Thandi stared openly at Jake.
“No actually… this feels historically important.”
Jake smirked slightly.
“You must be the sister.”
“You must be the emotionally confusing billionaire.”
Amara nearly choked laughing.
Jake actually laughed too.
“Thandi!”
“What? I’m observant.”
Jake shook his head amusedly.
“I like her already.”
“Bad decision,” Amara muttered.
The atmosphere inside the apartment felt strangely comfortable.
Easy.
Jake couldn’t remember the last time he sat somewhere that didn’t feel performative.
Thandi eventually disappeared into her room after whispering aggressively into Amara’s ear:
“He’s prettier in person.”
“Go away,” Amara hissed back.
Jake clearly heard it anyway because his smirk widened slightly.
Annoying man.
A while later, Amara made tea while Jake wandered slowly through the apartment looking at her sketches pinned across the walls.
Hundreds of them.
Dreams in pencil form.
“You’ve been designing for years,” he observed quietly.
“Since I was a child.”
Jake stopped near one particular sketch framed carefully on the wall.
A wedding dress design.
Elegant and powerful.
Not soft or delicate like typical dresses.
Strong.
Like her.
“You designed this?”
Amara nodded while handing him tea.
“My mother helped inspire it.”
Jake studied the drawing longer.
“It doesn’t look traditional.”
“Because I hate traditions that make women feel small.”
He glanced at her over the cup slowly.
“You think marriage does that?”
“Sometimes.”
Jake leaned against the wall thoughtfully.
“And what would make you marry someone?”
Amara blinked slightly at the question.
Dangerous topic.
Still, she answered honestly.
“Peace.”
Jake frowned faintly.
“Peace?”
“Yes.” She crossed her arms lightly. “Not money. Not status. Not obsession.” Her eyes met his carefully. “Someone who feels safe.”
The word hit him unexpectedly hard.
Safe.
Jake looked away briefly.
Because deep down—
He wasn’t sure anyone had ever truly felt safe with him.
Amara noticed the shift instantly.
The silence between them deepened again.
Then suddenly thunder cracked loudly outside.
The lights flickered briefly.
Instinctively, Amara stepped slightly closer to him before realizing it.
Both froze.
Too close now.
Jake looked down at her.
Amara’s breath caught softly.
Everything suddenly felt very quiet despite the storm outside.
Jake slowly lifted one hand—
Then stopped himself.
Control.
The air between them burned with tension.
Amara could feel her heartbeat everywhere.
This was dangerous.
Too dangerous.
And yet neither moved away.
For one impossible moment—
It felt like the entire world narrowed down to the inches between them.
- Writer
