Aliana stepped out of the cafeteria with the warm soup container tucked carefully against her chest. The doctor had told her Joseph only needed something nourishing in his system, nothing alarming, and she had rushed down the street to the restaurant to grab the soup herself. She picked up her phone to call Jane and let her know she might be late or might entirely skip the event, But before she was able to dial to her, Her hand froze on the screen Her heartbeat jumped so hard it felt like it shook her ribs.
Arman was right there at the entrance.
He was close enough that she could see the fresh white bandage wrapped around his hand and the faint scrape on his forehead. He looked tired, like he had not slept properly, and for one insane second she forgot everything. The distance she had been keeping. The lines she had been trying to draw. All of it.
They noticed each other at the same time.
