Chapter 20 - The Rain and the Open Door
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Two weeks later, the Charlotte sky opened up in a torrential, punishing downpour.
Emily stepped out of the heavy glass doors of her new restaurant, pulling her coat tight against the chill. Her first week as a culinary manager had been exhausting, chaotic, and completely wonderful. She felt entirely like herself again.
She reached into her bag and popped open her umbrella. It was the same cheap, faded umbrella, the broken spoke still causing the fabric to lean pitifully to the left.
She walked toward the bus stop at the corner, the rain hammering against the pavement.
As she approached the glass shelter, she stopped.
Standing under the awning, getting lightly misted by the blowing rain, was a tall man. He wasn't wearing a maintenance uniform. He was wearing a stunningly tailored charcoal suit, an overcoat, and Italian leather shoes that were currently getting entirely ruined by a puddle.
Alexander Bennett stood holding a single, flawless white rose.
Emily walked up to him, a slow, genuine smile spreading across her face. She tilted her broken umbrella back to look at him.
“You’re going to ruin those shoes, Alexander,” she said.
“They’re just shoes, Emily,” he replied, his eyes locked entirely on hers.
He didn't look like a CEO right now. He didn't look like Jack the liar. He just looked like a man who was terrified and incredibly hopeful all at once.
He held out the white rose.
Emily didn't take it immediately. She looked at the flower, then up at his face.
“I don't have any exact change today,” she teased softly.
“That’s alright,” Alexander smiled, a warmth in his eyes that made her stomach flutter. “I brought my own bus fare this time. Two dollars. Exact change.”
Emily finally reached out and took the rose, her fingers lightly brushing against his. The spark between them was undeniable, no longer clouded by secrets or power dynamics.
A loud hiss of air brakes echoed through the rain as the city bus pulled up to the curb, its doors swinging open.
Alexander looked at the bus, then back at Emily. He offered her his arm. “Shall we?”
Emily looked at the open doors, at the dark, rainy city ahead, and at the man standing beside her, finally entirely real. She didn't know what the future held. She didn't know if the billionaire and the kitchen worker could actually build a life together.
May you like
But as she looped her arm through his and stepped onto the bus, she knew she was finally ready to find out.
The doors hissed shut, and they rolled forward into the rain, together.
