In his arms again
844 Words
Scene: Marcus Enterprises – Parking Lot – Late Afternoon
Nathan leaned against his car, eyes fixed on the building’s glass entrance. His heart beat like a war drum in his chest. The moment he saw Isabella walk out, all the words he’d rehearsed vanished into smoke.
She didn’t notice him at first. Her mind was elsewhere—her brows drawn together, a stack of files in her arms. But then her eyes landed on him.
She froze.
He pushed off the car, walked slowly toward her. “Isabella…”
She looked away, trying to walk past him. “Please, Nathan. Not now.”
But he gently reached out, his hand brushing her arm. “Just… just five minutes. That’s all I ask.”
There was a beat of silence. Then another. Until, finally, she turned and nodded once.
He walked with her to a shaded spot near the garden edge of the lot—quiet, private.
“I didn’t sleep,” Nathan said softly. “I kept replaying everything… every look, every word. You walked away before I could explain. Before I could even breathe.”
She looked down, her voice flat. “I saw you with her. First Angela. Now Alina. What do you want me to believe?”
Nathan stepped closer, his voice trembling. “Believe what you feel when you look at me. Angela and her mother set me up—yes, I went to their house, but I never touched her. I never even stayed long. They said things they knew you’d overhear. And as for Alina…”
He exhaled sharply. “I’m not engaged. It’s all PR. My parents are trying to cover the scandal. But none of that matters, Isa. Because the only thing I want… is you.”
Isabella looked up at him. Their eyes locked—and suddenly, the world quieted. The city noise, the cars in the lot, even the ache in her chest—it all faded.
Silence wrapped around them like a soft blanket.
Nathan took another step forward, barely inches from her now. “Do you still see me the same way? Or did I lose you already?”
Her lips parted slightly, but no words came. Her gaze dropped to his hand, still trembling slightly at his side.
Slowly—so slowly—she reached out and took it.
“I don’t know if I can trust what I feel,” she whispered. “But I want to try.”
Nathan’s breath hitched.
Their fingers intertwined.
The silence wasn’t awkward anymore.
It was warm.
Hopeful.
Alive.
The late afternoon sun bathed the sky in warm hues of orange and gold, casting long shadows across the pavement. Isabella’s fingers trembled in Nathan’s hand. Her walls, the ones she’d built brick by brick over the past five years, began to crumble.
Without a word, Nathan gently pulled her into his arms. She didn’t resist.
She collapsed against his chest, her face buried in his shirt as the weight of everything—her father’s death, the betrayal, the pain—poured out in silent tears.
Nathan held her tighter, his hand stroking her hair as he whispered, “I never wanted this. That day at Angela’s house… they called me over, saying it was urgent. But when I got there, they played it like something had happened between us. I knew something was off, but before I could walk away, you were already there, listening.”
Her shoulders shook, tears soaking through his shirt.
“I should have run after you that day,” he continued. “I should have fought harder. But then the news broke… and everything spiraled.”
Isabella clutched his shirt, sobbing into his chest.
“I didn’t want to believe it,” she said between sobs. “But I saw you with her. With Alina. And it hurt. It hurt so much I couldn’t breathe.”
Nathan closed his eyes, his voice soft and raw. “Nothing happened with Alina. I told my parents I didn’t want her, that I didn’t love her. But they didn’t care. She’s rich, powerful—clean. The perfect fix for a messy scandal.”
He pulled back just enough to look at her, brushing her hair away from her face. “But none of that matters to me. You do. Only you.”
Her lips trembled as she whispered, “I don’t want you to marry her, Nathan.”
“Then I won’t.”
“I love you,” she breathed. “I’ve tried to hide it, to ignore it, to bury it under all the anger… but I do. I love you so much, and I don’t want to lose you again.”
Nathan cupped her face gently, eyes filled with a thousand unspoken promises. “Then don’t. Stay with me, Isabella. Let me fight for you. Let me love you.”
She nodded, slowly, as tears continued to fall—but this time, they weren’t just from pain.
They were from hope.
From finally being seen.
From finally being held.
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- Writer
