The Rain Between Us
1101 Words
"Some collisions don't begin the moment two people meet. They begin with one small decision made days earlier."
Amy
Rain.
Again.
Detroit had spent the last week wrapped beneath gray skies, and by Friday morning the city looked as though someone had softened every edge with silver.
The windshield wipers swept steadily across the glass as I pulled into the parking garage beneath Crane & Rogers.
Forty-five days.
The countdown widget flashed across my phone before I locked the screen.
45 days until graduation.
My stomach fluttered.
Every day carried me closer to the life I'd worked so hard to build.
Every day also carried me a little closer to...
Something else.
I refused to give it a name.
My phone buzzed just before I climbed out of the car.
Nocturne.
My heart answered before my mind had the chance.
Nocturne: Good luck today.
No song.
No quote.
Just four simple words.
I smiled.
Then typed.
Me: Thank you.
Have a good day too.
I hesitated.
Added one more line.
Don't work too hard.
The message sent before I could change my mind.
Heat warmed my cheeks.
Who tells a stranger not to work too hard?
Apparently...
Me.
---
Jordan stood outside the elevators holding two coffees.
"You look suspiciously cheerful."
"I had coffee."
He handed me the second cup.
"This one's yours."
I blinked.
"You bought me coffee?"
"You looked like you were about to forget breakfast again."
"I actually ate breakfast."
He narrowed his eyes.
"I don't believe you."
"Eggs."
He gasped dramatically.
"Character development."
Grace stepped into the elevator just before the doors closed.
"You two finally getting along?"
Jordan answered immediately.
"We've always gotten along."
"We tolerate each other," I corrected.
He smiled.
"See?"
"Progress."
Grace laughed.
"I'll take progress."
The elevator climbed quietly.
Rain slipped down the glass walls outside.
Funny.
Rain didn't make me sad anymore.
It made me think.
---
Lucas
Friday inspections.
Normally they were my favorite part of the week.
They reminded me that Crane & Rogers wasn't built on awards or quarterly earnings.
It was built on people.
Today felt different.
Not because I was inspecting Engineering.
Because Amy worked there.
That realization should have embarrassed me.
Instead...
It simply felt true.
Noah caught up beside me.
"You look tense."
"I'm fine."
"You've been 'fine' all week."
"I have been."
"You've also been lying all week."
I sighed.
"You're exhausting."
"I'm observant."
The engineering department quieted as we walked through.
I hated that.
Respect should never sound like silence.
My eyes found Amy almost immediately.
She hadn't noticed us.
She leaned over a set of structural drawings, one strand of hair slipping across her cheek.
Without thinking, she tucked it behind her ear while continuing to calculate.
Completely absorbed.
She looked happiest when she was solving a problem.
Grace approached us.
"Morning."
She handed me a folder.
"Intern revisions are finished."
"Any concerns?"
She smiled.
"One."
I looked up.
"Amy keeps underestimating herself."
My eyes drifted back toward her desk.
"I've noticed."
Grace followed my gaze.
"She's one of the strongest interns we've had in years."
"I agree."
Just then...
Amy looked up.
Our eyes met.
Only for a heartbeat.
Blue.
Brown.
Recognition.
Something unspoken passed quietly between us before professionalism returned just as quickly.
She looked away.
So did I.
It had to stay that way.
It had to.
---
Amy
He was taller than I'd imagined.
At least six-foot-four.
Navy suit.
White shirt.
No tie.
Somehow that made him seem more approachable.
His blue eyes moved slowly across the department before settling briefly on me.
Only briefly.
Long enough for my heartbeat to forget its rhythm.
Then he looked away.
Good.
Why was I relieved?
Jordan leaned toward me.
"See?"
"What?"
"Terrifying."
I glanced toward Mr. Bennett again.
He didn't look terrifying.
He looked...
Lonely.
The thought appeared without permission.
Confident.
Composed.
Completely in control.
And somehow...
Alone.
The feeling disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.
Grace called my name.
"Amy?"
"Yes?"
"Can you bring the revised plans to Conference Room B?"
"Of course."
I gathered the folders.
Rain tapped softly against the windows lining the hallway.
The building seemed quieter away from the engineering floor.
I rounded the corner.
Someone stepped out at the exact same moment.
"Oh!"
The folders slipped from my hands.
One nearly hit the floor before another hand caught it.
The rest scattered across the polished hallway.
"I'm so sorry."
I dropped to my knees immediately.
Another pair of hands reached for the papers.
Long fingers.
A silver watch.
Tailored sleeves.
"I should've been watching where I was going."
The voice was calm.
Warm.
Lower than I'd expected.
My heart skipped.
I looked up.
Lucas Bennett.
Not across a conference room.
Not walking through Engineering.
Here.
Only a few feet away.
For one suspended second...
Neither of us moved.
His blue eyes met mine.
Not intimidating.
Not impatient.
Curious.
Concerned.
"Are you alright?"
"I..."
Brilliant.
Words, Amy.
"I'm okay."
He gathered the last folder and held it out to me.
Our fingers brushed.
Barely.
It couldn't have lasted more than a heartbeat.
Still...
Warmth lingered long after we let go.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome, Ms. Carter."
His smile was small.
Professional.
Respectful.
Nothing more.
Yet somehow...
It reached his eyes.
Then he stepped aside, allowing me to pass before continuing down the hallway.
I stood there another second.
Folders pressed against my chest.
Trying very hard to remember how breathing worked.
---
Later, Willow & Bean felt unusually warm after the cold rain.
I replayed the hallway over and over.
Not because it had been romantic.
It hadn't.
It had been an accident.
A completely ordinary interaction between an intern and a CEO.
So why couldn't I stop thinking about it?
My phone buzzed.
Nocturne: How was your day?
I smiled without meaning to.
Me: Busy.
Another message followed before I could think.
I almost ran into my CEO today.
Three dots appeared.
Stopped.
Appeared again.
Across the city, Lucas stared at his phone.
A slow smile tugged at one corner of his mouth.
Nocturne: And did you survive?
I laughed quietly.
Me: Barely.
Lucas rested his head against the back of the couch.
He could still remember the warmth of her fingers brushing against his.
Such a small thing.
Completely accidental.
Entirely innocent.
And somehow...
It had felt more real than a hundred conversations through a screen.
Outside, rain continued to fall across Detroit.
Inside...
Two worlds had finally brushed against each other.
Neither of them understood it yet.
But after today...
Keeping those worlds apart was going to become much harder.
- Writer
