HASALYNX PRESS
Read Romance Ebooks Legally — Anytime, Online, With a Monthly Subscription

“I’m sorry,” Samedh whispered silently, his quiet, low voice trembling, his eyes’ gaze absent. “I just... I can’t do this, Yuvaan. I’m sorry... I’m so, so sorry.”

I sighed silently upon hearing these words. I had a hunch that it was too early for him and that we would be better off saying goodbye after our date, but he dragged me into his apartment himself... And as a result, I thought that he was ready.

Well, now it turns out that he wasn’t.

“It’s alright,” I told him after a moment of silence. “I mean, I can understand that perfectly.”

“I’m sorry again,” he repeated, anguished, and hugged his knees with both arms. “I really believed I could do this tonight...”

I took his glitter shirt from the bed and passed it to him. “Don’t worry... These things shouldn’t be forced.”

Samedh nodded, then shyly took the t-shirt and put it on. It was enormous; I had already noticed it earlier, but now he seemed to drown in it. Maybe, though, it was the fault of his dark skinny jeans...

“Thanks,” he said silently, so silently that I almost had to read it from his lips. “Now, please leave.”

“All right,” I replied, getting up.

I honestly didn’t manage to take off any items of my clothing yet, aside from my jean jacket, so I put it on. I walked into the corridor, and Samedh followed me noiselessly. “You know how to get out of this neighborhood?”

“Sure, I’ll manage,” I said, lacing my shoes. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Driving away into the night ten minutes later, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of extreme emptiness overwhelming me. I felt so incredibly alone... If this date ended with us saying goodbye at the restaurant, I would’ve felt better than I did, having been invited for a night that was never meant to happen. Although I knew it wasn’t my fault that he didn’t want it in the end and that I did the best thing that I could’ve done, leaving him, it still made me feel... sad.

*

Three months later

What are all those people printing encyclopedias?! I thought, irritated, impatiently queuing in front of our floor’s printer. Quite a few people were waiting here, and the line seemed to move slower than usual, almost at a snail’s pace.

Bored out of my mind, I glanced at the nearby bulletin board. There was a new poster advertising a travel conference called ‘Revelations from the World.’ From what I read, there were supposed to be seven panels, each featuring a different continent. The travelers attending would conduct their slideshows about life in other countries and discuss the future of travel in general. As a chief journalist responsible for this company’s travel newspaper, I felt intrigued and thought of going.

Half an hour later, I finally managed to print the file, and with my head brimming with new ideas, I returned to my desk. It was one of the most cluttered ones in this open-space office.