Until We Meet Again.

Episode 1: The Rain Between Us

Episode 1: The Rain Between Us

Rain had always made Lia uncomfortable.

It wasn’t the thunder or the lightning that bothered her. It was the silence that came with it—the way the world seemed to slow down, forcing people to stop and think. And Lia hated stopping. Thinking too much often led to remembering, and remembering was dangerous.

At twenty-two, Lia Hernandez had already built her life around discipline. Her days were filled with deadlines, responsibilities, and carefully written plans. She believed in hard work, not fate. Love stories were for movies, not for people like her.

That evening, she sat alone in her favorite café near the city center, her laptop open in front of her. Outside, heavy rain poured across the streets, turning headlights into blurry gold reflections. Inside, the café was warm, filled with the smell of coffee and soft music.

Her phone buzzed.

It was Mara, her best friend.

Mara: Still working? Please tell me you remember how to be human.

Lia smiled faintly.

Lia: Barely.

She locked her phone and stared at her unfinished work.

Then the café door opened.

A man stepped inside, slightly soaked from the rain, holding his jacket over his head like it had done absolutely nothing to protect him. He walked to the counter with a tired but easy smile.

“Please tell me hot chocolate can fix bad life decisions,” he said.

The barista laughed.

Lia looked up for only a second.

But somehow, one second was enough.

He had messy dark hair, calm eyes, and the kind of smile that looked real even when it was tired. He seemed like someone who laughed often, even when life gave him reasons not to.

A few minutes later, he turned and noticed there were no empty tables left.

Unfortunately, the only available seat was across from Lia.

He walked over.

“Hi,” he said, holding his cup carefully. “Every table here is taken, and I’m trying not to stand dramatically by the window like a heartbroken movie character. Can I sit here?”

Lia stared at him for a moment.

She should say no.

She liked silence. She liked distance. She liked strangers staying strangers.

But instead, she gave a small nod.

“Fine.”

He smiled like she had just saved his life.

“Thank you. I promise I’m only slightly annoying.”

He sat down.

For a few moments, neither of them spoke.

Then he glanced at her untouched coffee.

“That drink has been there long enough to start paying rent.”

Lia looked at him, surprised.

“…Excuse me?”

He smiled into his cup.

“You’ve been staring at your laptop for ten minutes without typing. Either you’re writing something very deep, or you’re questioning every life choice you’ve ever made.”

For the first time that night, Lia laughed.

A small one. Quiet, but real.

And somehow, in the middle of the rain, with a stranger sitting across from her and a cold cup of coffee between them, something shifted.

She didn’t know it yet.

But this was how their story would begin.