Even though it was the first time Sophia and I had met, something just clicked between us that night.
She made me feel things I’d never experienced before.
It was quiet outside, like the whole world was holding its breath.
Soft light spilled over us, and the tenderness lingered on.
I held her close, wrapped up in the warmth of the moment.
Sophia rested her cheek against my chest, her eyes full of gratitude as she looked up at me.
“Andrew, thank you…
You showed up when I was at my lowest and gave me some comfort and a reason to smile.”
“Sophia, maybe it’s fate that brought us together tonight.
I’m just glad I could give you a bit of joy.”
“Andrew, even if we never see each other again, I’ll always remember that there was someone like you, who gave me the happiest few hours during the darkest time of my life.”
“If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll meet again.”
“I can’t promise you anything now.
But if I never look for you again…
would you hate me for that?”
“No, I get how you feel.
You weren’t with me tonight because you had feelings for me.
I won’t hate you.
I just hope you can be happy moving forward, and leave all the pain behind.”
“Thank you, my sweet boy.” She kissed me gently, curled up in my arms like she just wanted to stay there forever.
I held her tightly, not wanting to let go of the happiness she brought into my life.
As I breathed in the faint, lingering scent on her skin, wrapped in that peaceful silence, we drifted off to sleep together.
We were just two strangers who happened to cross paths in this busy city.
To anyone else, it might’ve seemed like just one night of impulse.
But to me, this felt like something fate gently placed in my hands.
There was something about Sophia—that graceful vibe she gave off, the way she looked—that completely captivated me.
I could already tell she’d left a mark on my heart.
Deep down, I knew she could slip out of my life at any moment, just like she hadn’t really been part of it before tonight.
We’d both go back to being strangers, getting consumed by our own lives again.
She might try to erase tonight from her memories, pretend none of it even happened.
Maybe I was just her way of escaping loneliness for a little while, someone to hold on to when her emotions were all over the place.
For all I knew, she could walk away forgetting everything—even my name and face, as if I never existed.
When I woke up, just like I’d thought, Sophia had gone without a sound.
She hadn’t left anything behind—except the barely-warm sheets that reminded me she’d really been here, with me.
Streams of sunlight cut through the curtains.
I flipped back the covers, like I was searching for a trace of her, something to confirm that it wasn’t a dream.
I only found a few long strands of her hair scattered on the bed.
That was all she left behind—those soft, silken threads that still held a bit of her.I picked up the strand of hair and slipped it into my wallet.
Whether Sophia saw last night as just a fling or a way to vent her feelings about her husband—I didn’t really care.
In this massive city, strangers cross paths, spend a night together, and part ways without strings attached.
It’s nothing new.
But even though that’s the norm, my head just couldn’t stop replaying Sophia’s face.
I couldn’t pretend like it was no big deal.
Her quiet exit that morning…
it left a weird emptiness in me I didn’t expect.
After getting up, I started searching around—TV stand, coffee table, couch—hoping to find some note, anything with her address or number on it.
But after checking everywhere, I had to face it: Sophia was gone, for real.
Like she’d never even been here.
Turns out, Sophia handled it way cleaner than I did.
She let go like it meant nothing.
I stood in front of the bathroom mirror, laughing at myself—laughing at how foolishly sentimental I was, how I’d ended up just being a distraction for a woman trying to escape her sadness.
I kept telling myself to do the same, to treat last night like a dream that vanished with the morning sun.
Sophia…
was just some beautiful name from a night I should’ve already forgotten.
Bit by bit, my life got back to normal.
I tried to stop thinking about that stunning face, her soft skin, or her name that somehow still echoed in my mind.
At work, surrounded by a group of cheerful women, it became easier to push her out of my thoughts.
Slowly, I was starting to move on.
I worked at a female fashion brand—a well-known national company with several labels under its belt and headquarters in Crownharbor.
I’d majored in business management in college, and after graduating, I landed here.
In three years, I’d worked my way up from the bottom to assistant manager in the planning department.
Now I had projects coming at me non-stop.
Late nights and overtime were pretty much the norm.
There was a girl at work named Grace Mitchell.
She liked me.
She’d only been here a little over a year, worked in the admin department.
Every lunch break, she’d make sure to snag a seat next to me.
Grace wore glasses and had this calm, classy vibe.
She was gorgeous too, and plenty of guys at the office were clearly trying to get close to her.
But she never gave them much—just a soft smile and polite distance.
I wouldn’t say I had strong feelings for Grace, but she was always looking out for me in tiny, sincere ways.
Some of our coworkers noticed and started teasing us, saying we made a cute couple.
Whenever someone joked, “Grace, when are you gonna invite us to your wedding with Andrew?” everyone at the table would laugh.
Grace would blush, sneak a quick glance at me, and when she saw I wasn’t saying anything, she’d act fake-annoyed and clap back.
“I don’t even have a boyfriend yet, geez.
What wedding?”
Then someone would nudge me, “Andrew, man, you’re really dragging your feet.
Grace is totally waiting for you to say something.
Don’t screw this up, or one of these dudes around here is gonna snap her up while you’re still daydreaming.”
I looked at Grace with a grin.
“So, Grace, is what they’re saying true?
You serious about being my girlfriend?”
Grace got bold for a second and gave me a little shove.
“Andrew, who asks a girl out like that?
Seriously, if it weren’t you, I’d be totally freaked out by now.”