Chapter 6: Quiet After the Storm
The office emptied slowly after the meeting, voices fading into the hum of computers and the soft rustle of papers being stacked away.
I stayed in my chair longer than I should have, staring at the screen, pretending to review notes while my hands trembled slightly in my lap.
Jonas' words kept replaying in my mind.
"Much of what you're seeing here is the result of her work."
So simple. So clear. But they'd landed like a balm on skin rubbed raw.
I didn't know what I was feeling—relief, gratitude… or something more dangerous.
Something that tugged at the edges of safety.
Mia appeared beside me with two mugs in her hands.
"Hey," she said gently, handing me one.
Chamomile. Of course.
"Thanks."
She sat on the edge of my desk, legs crossed, her expression unusually serious.
"I heard what happened. Sabrina's a piece of work. Total bitch move. But I'm glad Jonas called it out. Loud and clear."
I nodded. "I didn't expect it."
"No one does, when they're used to people not seeing them. But he saw you. And so did the rest of us."
Her words almost broke me.
That night, at home, the silence wrapped around me like an old blanket—familiar, but never quite warm. I sat curled on the sofa, lights dimmed, a cup of tea forgotten on the coffee table.
I thought of Sandra. Of her smirk. Her words.
How does a woman look at another and defend a man who broke her? How does someone excuse cruelty because it came in a tux and brought flowers the next morning?
Was it jealousy?
Was it ignorance?
Or worse—was it recognition?
Did she justify him because to acknowledge the truth would mean she had to question her own choices?
The questions were acid. They burned and spiraled, until my chest ached.
And then there was Jonas.
He was becoming... something. Something dangerous. Not because he was unkind or intrusive—no, quite the opposite.
He was patient. Attentive. His gaze didn't search my body—it searched my mood.
His touch, brief and rare, was always grounding.
Like he didn't want to claim space I hadn't offered.
But that was the danger.
My body reacted before my mind did.
A flutter in my stomach when I saw him across the room.
The way my heart skipped when he said my name. The warmth that lingered long after he'd walked away.
I was not ready. I wasn't even sure I was whole.
My skin still remembered fear. My dreams still ended in silence.
And yet—
Something inside me was waking up.
A whisper that not every man raised his voice.
That not every closeness had to come with pain.
But whispers were fragile. Easily drowned by echoes of the past.
I drew a deep breath.
One step at a time, Lina. You've come too far to run again.
Mia's voice echoed in my memory: He saw you.
I wasn't sure what Jonas saw when he looked at me.
But for the first time in a long while—I wanted to find out.