Chapter 6 - The Return to the City
The country road was behind them.
The city was ahead, still invisible, only implied by the way the light changed and the sky began to compress.
Nadia sat in the passenger seat of Daniel's car, her hands in her lap, holding the damp linen handkerchief.
Daniel drove precisely, his jaw tight, his eyes fixed on the highway.
The silence between them was different now. It wasn't the silence of an employer and an employee, or the silence of two strangers playing a part. It was the quiet, steady hum of two people who had stood in the dark together and found a way back to the light.
Daniel slowed the car as they reached the first city toll. He reached across the console, his large hand covering her small one, his fingers gently pressing against the handkerchief.
"Nadia," he said, his voice quiet.
"Yes, Daniel?"
"We're going back to the city," he said. "But we are not going back to the way things were. I don't want you in my kitchen at eleven o'clock at night because you have nowhere else to go. I want you there because it's your home. With me."
Nadia looked at him. The gray city skyline was rising in the distance, but for the first time in her life, she didn't feel small against its concrete walls.
She squeezed his hand, her thumb tracing the scar on his knuckle.
"I think," she whispered, a small, genuine smile touching her lips, "that would be very kind."
May you like
Daniel turned his head, his eyes locking onto hers with a warmth that made the cold city morning feel like a southern summer.
He didn't say anything else. He didn't need to. He simply held her hand, shifting the car into gear, and drove them home.
