Alys stood still, her fingers still tingling, her heart beating a little faster than she cared to admit. She gathered the remaining materials, bid the team good night, and locked up the gallery. Only when she arrived at her apartment over an hour later and opened the folder to review the catalogs did she find it.
Resting between two sheets was a black card. Matte. No logo. No name. Just a single line handwritten in silver ink:
"When you are ready to truly touch."
And below, a phone number.
Alys read the note twice. Then three times. And smiled to herself.
She didn't yet know what she would do with it. But something inside her already knew: Theo wasn't just another visitor.
He was an invitation.
And she was already ready to accept it.
The black card had remained on Alys's bedside ta
