Felix ruffled his hair roughly, fingers tunneling through the strands with frustration, as he stared at the ssage he’d just sent to Katherine.
It felt pathetic. Like a cheap bandage slapped over a wound he was the one digging.
With a muttered curse, he shoved the phone back into his pocket and exhaled hard. His other hand was clenched in a tight fist at his side, the veins in his arm visible beneath his rolled-up sleeves.
Across from him, Lara stood with a satisfied smile, her lips painted a glossy cherry red that seed to shine brighter under the fluorescent lights of the gas station canopy. Her arms were crossed playfully, as if this was all a ga.
Felix looked at her, chest tight with mounting exhaustion.
He hadn’t planned on seeing her again tonight. In fact, he’d done everything not to.
He rembered exactly how it happened.
Just half an hour earlier, he’d been driving ho. His mind was already back at the apartnt, picturing Katherine and the twins. Maybe Maya had made another drawing of a lopsided cat. Maybe Nathan was building a new Lego castle. Maybe he’d be in ti to help Katherine set the table, to finally ease the growing tension that had been blooming between them.
And then, at a red light, a honk sounded behind him.
He glanced in the rearview mirror.
The window rolled down.
And there she was.
Lara. Waving enthusiastically like they were old friends in a college reunion parking lot.
Felix’s blood ran cold. He slamd on his signal and pulled into the nearest gas station without a second thought.
Now here they were.
He gestured to the concrete beneath their feet and muttered, "Miss Johannsen, what the hell are you doing here?"
Lara tilted her head with a mock-innocent smile. "I ca to surprise you. I stopped by your office earlier, but your assistant said you were out."
Felix’s jaw tensed. Katherine.
"That doesn’t explain why you followed . You do realize that’s stalking, right? I could report you."
Lara laughed. Laughed.
"That?" she said with a light wave of her hand, her bracelets jingling. "That wasn’t stalking. I just... happened to see you drive away, and I followed to say hi. We missed our mont, Felix. It’s not criminal—it’s romantic."
Felix stared at her like she’d grown two heads. "Romantic?"
"I an, sort of," Lara said, smiling. "And besides—look!" She pointed dramatically behind her.
Parked a few feet away was a sleek white sports coupe, clearly fresh off the lot. The tallic paint sparkled under the station lights.
Felix blinked, unamused. "You followed through traffic... just to show your new car?"
"Not show off," Lara said quickly. "I just wanted to share so good news! Now I won’t need you to pick up every ti. Independent woman and all that." She winked.
Felix sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Great. Congratulations. Lovely car. Now, let’s both go ho."
But before he could turn, Lara stepped closer and—without asking—slipped her fingers around his hand.
"No way," she said sweetly. "It’s dinner ti. You just got off work, right? You must be starving. And I haven’t tried any of the local food spots yet. Let’s go."
Felix looked down at their joined hands, jaw clenched. Her grip wasn’t tight, but it was firm—deliberate.
"Miss Johannsen..." he began.
Lara pouted. "Co on, just dinner. No strings. I’ll even let you pick the place."
Felix drew in a slow, deep breath, trying to keep his voice calm.
He knew he couldn’t go back to the apartnt—not tonight.
Not with her shadowing him like this.
If Lara saw Katherine... or the twins...
God, he didn’t even want to imagine that ss.
He glanced at her, her hopeful face waiting. Then at his car. Then at the road behind them.
He didn’t have much of a choice.
"Fine," he said, the word falling from his mouth like a rock. "Dinner."
Lara’s eyes lit up like she’d just won a prize. "Yay!"
He didn’t respond. Instead, he pulled open the car door and got in without another word. Lara hurried around to the passenger side, practically bouncing.
As she climbed in and adjusted her seatbelt, she said, "You’re going to love this little place I saw on the way—"
Felix didn’t hear her.
His hand was gripping the steering wheel like a lifeline, his eyes trained on the windshield, but his thoughts far, far away.
What am I doing?
This is spiraling.
This is going to cost everything if I don’t get control.
He couldn’t even rember what Katherine replied to his ssage.
Probably sothing polite.
Sothing distant.
He deserved it.
**
They ended up at a trendy rooftop restaurant downtown, one of those places with floor-to-ceiling windows and overpriced cocktails.
Lara acted like they were on a date.
She ordered wine before he could protest. Asked if he wanted to share a dessert before they even ordered entrées. Complinted his cufflinks. Comnted on how "nice" it was to have this "quality ti."
Felix barely touched his food. He pushed his pasta around the plate and offered half-smiles at all the right monts.
Inside, he was screaming.
This has to stop. This has to stop now.
She wasn’t listening when he told her he didn’t want to pursue anything. She wasn’t listening when he said he liked soone else. She wasn’t even listening when he physically avoided her.
And the longer he let this go, the more damage he’d do.
Especially to Katherine.
God, he hated himself for tonight.
When the waiter ca with the check, Felix grabbed it before Lara could even blink. She made a fake fuss—"Oh no, let !"—but didn’t fight too hard when he insisted.
They walked back to their cars under the city lights. The night air was cool, and Lara wrapped her arms around herself with a content sigh.
"Tonight was nice," she said. "I missed this. You’re easy to talk to, you know."
Felix stopped near her car. "Miss Johannsen," he began, voice low but firr now.
She tilted her head. "Oh no. You’re doing the ’serious voice’ again."
He stared at her. "We can’t keep doing this."
She frowned. "Doing what?"
"This," he gestured between them. "eting like this. Running into each other. Dinner. Conversations that keep blurring the line."
Lara opened her mouth, but Felix held up a hand. "I’ve been trying to be polite. But it’s not working. You’re not listening. And I can’t... I can’t let you keep getting the wrong idea."
"So what, you’re breaking up with ?" she said with a teasing smile.
Felix’s face didn’t change.
"No," he said quietly. "Because we were never anything to begin with."
Lara’s smile faltered for just a second. She looked away, brushing hair behind her ear. "I see."
Felix exhaled. "Good night, Miss Johannsen."
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