He is.... Not Him

The elevator doors opened, and my world stopped.

He was standing there. The same shape. The same eyes. The same face I'd seen every night for ten years behind my closed eyelids. My breath caught in my throat as the past crashed into the present with the force of a tidal wave.

Liam.

He looked up from his phone, and his eyes met mine. Calm. Professional. Empty.

Like he didn't know me at all.

"Miss Sharpe, this is—" Victoria began beside me, but her voice was just static in my ears.

I didn't think. I just moved.

My heels clicked a frantic rhythm on the polished marble as I turned and fled. I could feel the heat of tears already burning behind my eyes, threatening to spill. I pushed through the glass doors, past the security desk, and kept running until I found an empty balcony on a lower floor.

The cold railing bit into my palms as I leaned against it, gasping for air.

Idiot. You absolute idiot, Evelyn Sharpe.

Ten years. A whole decade. And I still couldn't look at his face without falling apart. I still couldn't hear his voice without my heart shattering all over again.

The memory came without warning, sharp and merciless, dragging me back to the day everything fell apart.

-Ten Years Ago-

The university gardens were bathed in golden afternoon light. Graduation day. I'd just finished my degree, and the world felt full of possibility. My friends were laughing around me, tossing their caps in the air, celebrating the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.

Then I saw him.

Liam Thorne was walking toward me through the crowd, a bouquet of red roses in his hand. My favorite flowers. The sunlight caught his hair and made him look like something out of a dream. His smile—that wide, warm smile that always made my heart skip—was brighter than the sun itself.

"Congratulations on your graduation," he said, handing me the roses.

I took them, grinning so hard my cheeks hurt. "What's this? You graduated too, you know."

We walked through the gardens together, the way we always had. The old oak trees. The stone benches. The path where I'd first seen him, sitting alone, reading a book. I'd looked up that day and he was walking toward me, his presence so warm it felt like stepping into sunlight.

I never told him that. Not until that day.

"Do you remember our first meeting?" I asked, my voice softer than I'd intended.

He thought for a moment. "Was it at the library? About a year ago?"

I shook my head. "It was here. Right on this path. I was sitting on that bench, reading, and I looked up and saw you walking toward me. You were so... dazzling."

He went quiet. His eyes searched mine, and I saw something flicker there—surprise, maybe? I took a shaky breath.

I'd spent years hiding how I felt. Playing it cool. Pretending that his smile didn't make my heart race. But today felt different. Today felt like my last chance.

"I like you," I said. Then I shook my head. "No. That's not it. I... I am in love with you."

The words hung in the air between us. I waited for his smile to brighten. For him to pull me into his arms. For him to tell me he felt the same.

Instead, his eyes got watery. He looked sad. Why did he look sad?

"Liam!" A cheerful voice cut through the moment.

A girl I'd never seen before bounded up to us. She was pretty and young and beaming like she'd just won a prize. She looped her arm through his, and I saw him flinch.

"Congratulations on your graduation!" She turned to me, her smile bright but curious. "And who is this?"

Liam hesitated. The guilt in his eyes made my stomach drop.

"This is..." He swallowed hard. "This is my friend. Evelyn Sharpe."

Friend. After my confession. The word was a slap.

"And this is—" He paused again, and I felt the world tilt beneath my feet. "This is my girlfriend. Chloe Bennett."

The ground disappeared from under me.

Girlfriend.

I made a sound. A dry, hollow laugh that didn't sound like me at all.

"Girlfriend?" The word tasted like ash in my mouth.

I looked at Liam. Really looked. He was pale. His hands were shaking. I'd never seen him look so miserable.

And then I walked away.

-Present Day-

The memory faded, leaving me alone on the cold balcony, the weight of ten years pressing down on my shoulders.

I wiped the tears from my cheeks and took a shaky breath.

What was I going to do?

My dream job. My fresh start. And the first person I saw on my first day was the man who'd shattered my heart into a thousand pieces. The man I'd spent a decade trying to forget.

I couldn't keep running. I couldn't quit on my first day. I had to go back.

But how?

How was I supposed to face him? How was I supposed to smile and shake his hand and pretend like he hadn't broken me?

The answer was simple: I couldn't. But I had to try.

I pulled out my phone and opened my messages. My finger hovered over the screen for a long moment before I typed.

Evelyn:

The lie tasted bitter, but I hit send anyway. Then I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and walked back inside.

I was going to face  my first love, Liam Thorne.

Even if it destroyed me all over again.