Closer Than They Should Be
POV: Kate
There were moments that didn't feel real like a dream woven in silk and perfume, where time moves slower and hearts beat louder. This was one of those moments.
Rain tapped rhythmically on the cafe window, a gentle percussion against the hum of soft jazz playing in the background. The lighting was low, golden, romantic. The kind that could make anyone believe in second chances.
Kate sat across from Dan, hands cradling a warm latte, her fingers brushing the rim of the cup in slow, nervous circles. She didn't know why she had agreed to meet him.
Perhaps curiosity. Perhaps weakness. Or maybe because part of her still wanted to believe he was worth the pain.
"You look like New York in November," he said, eyes lingering on her face. "Beautiful. A little unpredictable."
She beamed a smile😌, but it didn't reach her eyes. "And you still know how to say the right thing."
Dan leaned in slightly, his cologne wrapping around her like memory. "Not always. I got a lot of things wrong."
A beat passed.
Kate looked out through the window, her voice barely above a whisper. "Do you ever wish you could undo a moment? Just go back and choose differently?"
"Every day."
Their eyes met. The air between them thickened, charged with something unsaid. Kate broke the gaze first, choosing instead to focus on the foam popping up in her drink.
"I wasn't always like this," she began. "Bitter. Guarded."
Dan didn't speak. He just listened, raptly listened for the first time in a long while.
"I trusted someone once in my life. Completely. It was... stupid, maybe. But I gave everything I had. And when he left, it was like I forgot how to breathe for weeks. I promised myself I'd never let someone see me like that again. Not even you."
Her voice cracked slightly on the last word.
Dan reached across the table, his fingers grazing hers. "You didn't deserve any of it."
"Neither did she," Kate whispered.
Dan's jaw tightened. "Prestige?"
Kate didn't confirm or deny. She simply let the silence speak.
The rain outside picked up. Thunder rolled in the distance. Inside, the tension between them was almost tangible.
POV: Dan
He didn't know what he was doing.
This wasn't part of the plan. He was supposed to be controlled, calculated. Prestige was the choice that made sense and perfect for the public, a beauty influencer with a pristine reputation. But sitting here, across from Kate, he felt like a man unraveling.
Every word she spoke chipped away at the wall he had built. And damn it, she still had that effect on him , the power to make him feel like a human instead of a brand.
He should have walked away. But he didn't. He couldn't.
"What we had... it wasn't fake," he said suddenly.
Kate blinked. "Then why did you treat it like it was disposable?"
"Because it scared the hell out of me," Dan admitted. "You made me want more. Not just the luxury, the empire…YOU.
You saw the cracks. Prestige... she sees the version of me I pretend to be."
Kate's breath hitched.
He reached out again, this time not just grazing but holding her hand fully. Their fingers intertwined, awkwardly at first, then like it had always been meant to be that way.
"I can't fix the past," Dan continued, his voice low. "But probably I can be better moving forward. For you."
Kate looked down at their joined hands. "I don't need you to be better for me, Dan. I need you to be honest, just be au…then…tic"
POV: Kate
The storm outside had grown wild, wind howling against the cafe walls. Yet in that tiny space, time felt frozen.
Kate let her fingers stay in his, not because she forgave him, but because she wanted to remember how it felt. To be held like that.
She told him about her childhood. About the father who left, and the mother who filled the void with silence. About the boy who kissed her in high school and then never looked back. About the time she found Prestige crying in a closet after her first heartbreak and how she swore she'd always protect her after that.
Dan listened to every word. No interruptions. No diversions.
"I hate that I still want you," she said at last, a tear slipping down her cheek.
Dan reached out and wiped it away with his thumb, slow and deliberate.
"Then don't hate it. Just let it be what it is."
Their lips were inches apart. The moment pulled tight between longing and logic.
But just before they kissed
A flash.
Kate blinked, startled.
From across the street, behind the blurred outline of a parked SUV, a camera lens disappeared behind tinted glass.
She pulled back sharply.
"Someone just took a photo of us," she said.
Dan turned instantly, his body shielding hers. But whoever it was had already vanished.
POV: Unknown
Inside the SUV, a man smirked, reviewing the image.
Kate and Dan. Hands locked. Faces too close.
He sent the photo with a simple caption:
They're getting closer than they should be.
A reply came seconds later.
Prestige: Send it to the press. Let's see what Dan does when the world finds out he's still hers.
The photo leaks. And Kate wakes up th
e next morning to a phone buzzing non stop hundreds of messages, notifications, and one name trending online: #KateAndDan