g what it had to say. The sea, barely visible from the café window, shimmered under the cloudy sky. Th

d. He smiled, toyed with his coffee cup, and every now and then dropped a subtle joke, a comment la

n said, his tone low, almost a whisper meant only for her. "I like it when you

asy to get carried away by Aroon. So easy to let herself be enveloped by his

didn't intervene. But his presence was so palpable that it see

usy that was reflected in them, it was something more subtle: restraint.

r pretending to be

e asked. "Leaving. Seeing the world. There's so muc

and for a moment, she felt Aroon was serious. That behind th

el like if I move, something slips away...

," Thanom

intensity. Lila turned to him, surprised. Aroon looked at him too, with tha

His eyes, always measured,

re to find you. And I don't kno

m knew how to say so little and make her feel so much. Her mout

. The atmosphere tensed almost imperceptibly,

hat?" he asked with a gentle smile,

eemed directed toward a place only the two of them could reach, he murmured, "I've always been here, Lila. Even when

them like a wave sweepin

gotten to this point? When had it stopped bein

egan, but d

. His expression was still relaxed, bu

yone want it?" he asked, not l

e ans

side her, as silent as the sea after a storm. He didn't touch her. He d

the middle of something she couldn't get ou

. As if it too knew that some