Chapter 6 - A New Horizon
Two thousand miles away, rain was soft and steady against the floor-to-ceiling windows of a coffee shop in downtown Seattle, Washington.
Three months had passed since Valentine’s Day.
I sat at a wooden corner table, wrapping my hands around a hot mug of oat milk latte. The gray sky, the towering green pine trees, and the fresh, damp air of the Pacific Northwest felt like a cold, cleansing bath after five years in the dust and neon of Las Vegas.
My sister, Clara, lived in Seattle. The morning after I left Ryan, I had boarded a one-way flight north. Within three weeks, I had rented a charming little top-floor apartment in Capitol Hill, overlooking a garden court.
I hadn't spent those three months crying. I had spent them working.
With my five years of experience in county clerk operations and court administration, I quickly secured a position as a senior paralegal at Vance & Thorne LLP, one of the premier estate planning and corporate law firms in the city.
"Nora?"
I looked up.
Standing in front of my table was Julian Thorne.
Julian was thirty-four, six-foot-two, with dark brown hair clipped neat, sharp hazel eyes, and a broad-shouldered frame dressed in a tailored charcoal suit without a tie. He was one of the founding partners of the firm—a brilliant contract attorney known in court for his devastating composure and outside of court for his quiet, unpretentious kindness.
"Julian," I smiled, leaning back. "What are you doing in this neck of the woods?"
"Grabbing coffee before the 2:00 PM deposition," he said, holding up a paper cup with a dry smile. "Mind if I sit for five minutes? You look like you're a million miles away."
"Just enjoying the rain," I admitted.
Julian pulled out the chair across from me and sat down. He looked at me with an intensity that was never uncomfortable, only deeply attentive. Unlike Ryan, who spent every conversation looking over my shoulder to see who else was watching him, Julian looked at you as if you were the only person in the building.
"How are you settling into the new office?" Julian asked softly. "I know the transition from public sector to private firm workload can be brutal."
"I love it," I said truthfully. "It’s structured. People respect boundaries. When someone says something is important, they actually mean it."
Julian’s lips twitched into a subtle, warm smile. "I heard a rumor from HR that you refused to take overtime last Friday because you had a pottery class."
I blushed slightly. "Guilty. I spent five years letting someone else dictate every minute of my calendar. I'm taking my Saturdays back."
Julian reached across the table, picked up his cup, and looked into my eyes. "Good for you, Nora. Never give up your Saturdays for anyone who wouldn't spend their Sundays protecting yours."
May you like
My heart did a tiny, unfamiliar flutter in my chest.
For three months, I had locked my heart behind iron doors, convinced that men were inherently self-absorbed creatures who viewed women as accessories. But watching Julian Thorne sip his coffee, listening to the calm, steady rhythm of his voice, I felt the first tiny crack of spring thaw in my chest.
