Chapter 4 :Assistance From An Unfamiliar Man
1065 Words
The rain is heavy. The streets are almost empty,Liora walks through the city, under the streetlamps, soaked through completely.
The fabric of her dress clings to her skin, cold and heavy, like a second layer of flesh she can't shed. Her heels keep slipping, so she takes them off,holds them in one hand,bare feet on the freezing pavement.
Loria walks and walks, she doesn't know for how long, where she's going.
She just keeps moving, like she's trying to walk out of something.
Until a black car pulls slowly up beside her.
The window rolls down, a face appears.
"Miss, where are you trying to go in this rain? Let me give you a ride."
The voice is clean, like the first sunlight breaking through after a storm.
Liora lifts her head.
Through the curtain of rain, she sees a pair of eyes, not the cold kind she's used to, these are warm eyes, the kind of eyes that make you feel, even just for a second, like you might be safe.
And then she notices the rest of him. He's broad-shouldered, with a big frame, there's a shallow hollow just beneath his cheekbones that gives his whole face a sharp, almost sculptural edge in the light, a face that doesn't ask for attention but gets it anyway.
Liora opens her mouth wants to say no, but her body has nothing left, she's been hollowed out.
"I want to go…" She tries to say the villa address, but the words get tangled on her tongue.
That's not her home,that's just Dorian's house, she's been allowed to live in,three years, for free.
"Anywhere is fine. Just…as far from here as possible." Her voice comes out like sandpaper scraping against glass.
The man pushes the car door open gently, a black umbrella unfurls above her.
"Alright." His voice is soft, like he's afraid he might break something fragile. "You're going to make yourself sick like this."
Standing under that umbrella, Liora suddenly feels like crying.
Not because a stranger handed her an umbrella, not because of the rain, because her husband was inside that ballroom, holding another woman in his arms, dancing with her at the center of the floor.
While she was out here, in the storm.
And she was still waiting,hoping,believing he might come find her.
Stupid, Liora thinks.
"Thank you." She climbs into the car,her voice is scraped raw.
The man shakes his head. "It's nothing. A woman walking alone in the rain at this hour, any decent person would stop."
The car is warm inside, the faint, clean scent of pine. Liora settles into the passenger seat, and her wet clothes immediately soak a dark patch into the upholstery.
"I'm sorry. I'm ruining your car."
"It's fine." He reaches into the back seat and pulls out a clean blanket. "Here, put this on before you freeze."
The blanket is soft, camel-colored. It feels impossibly gentle against her skin. Liora wraps it around herself, and warmth begins to creep back into her body—starting at her fingertips, spreading inward, inch by inch.
The man starts the engine, he just pulls onto the main road.
When he moves, the lines of muscle under his shirt shift and hint—subtle, never forced. There's an effortless kind of sexiness to him, the kind that doesn't try.
"My name's Rays." He hands her a business card.
Liora looks at it.
The card is simple. Just a name and a phone number, no company,just name.
"Liora," she says, her voice quiet.
"Liora—did you have a fight with your family?"
She's silent for a long moment. Then she lets out a short, humorless laugh. "Something like that."
Rays glances at her, something flickers in his eyes, but he doesn't offer platitudes, just nods, slow say: "Sounds like someone lost that kindness people and doesn't know it yet."
Liora blinks, she hadn't thought of it that way, after all, Dirian doesn't care about her at all, how could he feel like he's lost something?
But the words settle somewhere inside her, a small weight against the hollow.
Rays doesn't push further, just turns up the heat a notch.
Rays turns down a quiet side street, the car comes to a stop outside a twenty four hour café, the sign is old, the light from the windows a warm, buttery yellow. It looks like a tiny lighthouse in the middle of this rain-soaked night.
Rays walks her to the café door, umbrella held over her head,then he steps back.
"I'll wait here."
"You're not coming in?" Liora doesn't understand this man, he drove her to a café, now he's staying outside?
"No." He smiles a little. "You look like you want to be alone for a while, and you look like you've had enough of people who don't know when to give you space."
Liora looks into his eyes. It's a strange feeling. This man is a complete stranger, she met him twenty minutes ago, every rational instinct should be telling her to be careful, to keep her guard up.
But she can't find that instinct right now, qll she feels is trust,Unreasonable,Illogical.
"Thank you. Will I… is there a chance I'll see you again?" She wants to repay this kindness somehow, and maybe something else.
They exchange contact information, Rays reminds her to stay safe, then he turns and walks back to the car.
The café is quiet. In the corner, a young owner sits with headphones on, lost in a paperback, Liora finds a seat by the window, then orders an espresso.
She needs to wake up.
The coffee comes, steam curling upward, fogging her vision.
Her phone buzzes, a message from Dorian.
"Why did you leave so early? Stella looks upset, did you say something to her?"
Liora stares at those words, stares at them for a very long time.
Of course, she thinks. I walked out of that ballroom, and all he wants to know is whether I hurt her feelings.
Her fingers hover over the keyboard, the old Liora would apologize, would explain: I didn't mean to cause a scene.
Fingers warm around a cup of espresso, Liora doesn't want to apologize.
She types: "I said goodbye, that's all, if she's upset, maybe she should ask herself why."
Liora no longer hope to cares whether he’ll get even angrier upon seeing this message.
- Writer
