𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐦

The fluorescent hum of the coffee shop was a stark contrast to the thumping anxiety in Amina's chest. Her thumbs bounced a frantic rhythm on the polished wooden table, each beat a testament to the weight of her father’s unfulfilled dreams and the internship interview looming before her.

She'd worked tirelessly, every decision meticulously calculated to fit the mold of the perfect daughter, burying her own desires beneath a mountain of expectations. Now, a year after burying her father, the silence he left behind was deafening. Her mother, a distant memory, had left a void that only ambition seemed to fill.

“Amina Martin?” A voice cut through her thoughts, crisp and authoritative. She froze, startled, as a man she presumed was Elliot slid into the seat opposite her. Her hand instinctively reached out, then awkwardly retracted as he simply stared, his gaze unsettling. This was it. The culmination of everything.