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"Celia, I met Christian again." She said in a breath.
There was silence on the other end for a brief second.
"Christian Evans?"
Ivy gulped hard and nodded, even though her best friend, Celia, couldn't see her. "Yes. Christian Evans. He collided with me at the café today, and when I got home, he cornered me. I thought he would have forgotten me by now, but he hasn’t. He said we’ll meet again."
Celia sucked in a breath, her concern turning to anger. "That bastard. He has some nerve showing up in your life again after five fucking years."
Ivy breathed through her mouth, her heart still refusing to accept that this wasn’t just a bad dream.
"It was him," she muttered, almost as if trying to convince herself. "Really him."
Celia’s voice softened with worry. "Are you going to be alright? Should I come to you?"
Ivy took a shuddering breath, running a hand through her hair, pushing the stray curls out of her face. "No… I’m fine. Don’t worry about it."
Celia exhaled deeply before barking, "I don’t even understand why he’s so obsessed with you. You worked at his company for barely three months, and it wasn’t like he knew you for a long time. You two never kissed, never slept together, so why the hell did he declare himself your boyfriend the day he met you and never stop stalking you after that?"
Ivy’s mind drifted back to the past, her chest tightening.
"Maybe… because of that coffee," she murmured.
Celia’s pacing on the other end stopped. "Coffee?" she repeated, confused.
Ivy nodded, even though Celia couldn’t see it. Then, quietly, she said, "The bar wasn’t the place where we met for the first time. It was a week before that. I was working part-time at a nearby café. That day, when I was about to leave, I saw a man pacing back and forth outside. He was looking very restless.”
Her voice dropped lower, recalling the scene vividly. "It was snowing so heavily, but he was only wearing a shirt and trousers. His clothes weren’t dirty, but he looked… disheveled. I thought maybe he’d had a bad day or something and didn’t have money for coffee, that’s why he wasn’t coming inside the cafe. So, I went back in, bought a hot coffee and a small cake, and gave them to him."
She paused, taking a shaky breath. "He didn’t say anything. Just stared at me. But his eyes… they followed me when I walked away, all the way until I disappeared. It was like I could feel them burning through me. And then, a week later, I joined EvansHoldings. And that very day, we met at the bar. He must have remembered me."
Celia was quiet for a long moment.
Ivy licked her dry lips, the very idea of being in his memory sending a shiver through her.
“It’s going to be okay, Ivy.” Celia said softly.
"I know.” Ivy answered as finally gathered the strength to stand up again. Her heart less anxious. “I’m going to sleep now, Celia." she said softly, though sleep felt impossible.
“Alright.” Celia answered. “Call me if you need me.”
“Yes.” Ivy muttered. Then, hanging up the call, she opened the door to her house and stepped inside.
But sleep was far from her eyes that night.
***
"Good morning, Ms. Watson."
The receptionist at the front desk greeted Ivy as she entered the building. It was her first day at the office. After working at Licious for three months, she was already starting to miss the scent of coffee around her.
Just to take a break from her corporate job as a business consultant, she had decided to work at Licious. But now, even though she had missed her profession, Licious—more like the people at Licious—had left an imprint on her.
Ivy smiled at the receptionist, Kayla, and walked toward her office.
"Ms. Watson!"
Kayla quickly followed behind her, a file in her hand. "Mr. Wilson asked me to hand this case over to you. There’s a very important client in the meeting room right now who wants to hire you for his business. You need to go there immediately."