Chapter 31 Flight

Chapter 31 Flight
Alex’s voice was raw when he spoke again. “Come to London, Sofia.”
The words hung between them like a live wire. Sofia’s breath caught. She sat on the edge of the bed in the dark, phone pressed tightly to her ear, Justin sleeping only a few feet away.
“Alex… don’t,” she whispered.
“I mean it.” His tone was low, desperate, stripped of every wall he had ever built. “Come to London. Just for a few days. I need to see you. I need to touch you. I can’t keep living like this.”
She closed her eyes, tears slipping down her cheeks.
“I’m married,” she said, voice shaking. “I have a husband sleeping next to me right now.”
“And yet you’re on the phone with me while your body still remembers how I felt inside you,” Alex answered, voice dark and rough. “You told me you came thinking about my mouth. About the way I fucked you. Don’t pretend this is one-sided.”
Sofia pressed a hand over her mouth to muffle a soft sob.
“I hate how much I still want you,” she confessed.
“Then stop fighting it.” Alex’s breathing was heavy.
“Book a flight. Tomorrow. I’ll send the jet if you want. Just come, one night, one week. However long you can give me. I’ll take whatever you can spare.”
The silence that followed was thick with everything they both refused to say. Sofia looked over her shoulder at Justin’s peaceful face. The man who loved her gently. Who never demanded more than she could give. Who never made her feel like she was drowning and flying at the same time.
Then she thought of Alex,  the only man who had ever made her feel completely alive.
“I can’t just leave,” she whispered.
“Yes, you can,” Alex said, almost pleading. “You’ve already left in every way that matters. Your body is there. Your heart is still with me.”
Sofia’s fingers trembled as they clutched the phone.
“If I come…” she began, voice barely audible.
“I’ll be waiting at the airport,” Alex cut in immediately. “I’ll take you straight to my place. No questions. No guilt. Just us. The way it should have been.”
She squeezed her eyes shut.
“This is wrong.”
“I know. I don’t care anymore.” His voice cracked.
Sofia stayed silent for a long time, listening to his breathing on the other end of the line. Finally, she spoke.
“Give me three days.”
Alex exhaled like a man who had been holding his breath for years.
“Three days,” he repeated, almost reverent. “I’ll clear everything. Just come to me, Sofia.”
She ended the call before she could change her mind. For a long moment she sat in the dark, heart pounding so hard it hurt. Then she quietly opened her laptop and searched for the next available flight to London. Across the city, Alex stood at his window, forehead pressed to the cold glass, phone still in his hand.
“She’s coming,” he whispered to the empty room.

In the next morning. Sofia stood in the kitchen, hands wrapped tightly around a mug of coffee she had barely touched. Justin walked in still half-asleep, wearing only a pair of loose shorts, and pressed a soft kiss to the back of her neck.
“Morning, baby,” he murmured, voice warm and sleepy. “You were quiet last night. Everything okay?”
Sofia forced a small smile and turned to face him.
“I need to talk to you about something.”
Justin’s expression immediately grew serious. He leaned against the counter, arms crossed, waiting.
“I’ve been thinking about going to London for a few days,” she said carefully. “There’s a small literary event… and an editor who wants to meet me in person about the new manuscript.”
It was only half a lie. There was always some event happening. She just hadn’t planned on attending any of them until last night. Justin studied her face for a long moment.
“London?” he repeated.
“Alone?”
“Yes.” Sofia’s fingers tightened around the mug.
“Just three or four days. I’ll be back before the weekend.”
Justin was quiet. The kind of quiet that made her heart race with guilt.
“You’ve been distant lately. Is everything really okay between us?” he said finally, voice soft but steady.
Sofia stepped closer and placed a hand on his chest, right over his heart.
“I love you,” she said, and the words still felt true in a way.
“I just… need a little space to clear my head. Work has been heavy. I think a short trip will help.”
Justin covered her hand with his own, searching her eyes.
“If you need space, I’ll give it to you,” he said after a pause.
“But promise me something.”
“What?”

“That you’re not running away from me.”
Sofia’s throat tightened. She rose on her toes and kissed him gently, slow and lingering, trying to pour reassurance into the touch.
“I’m not running away,” she whispered against his lips.
“I’m just… taking a short break. I’ll call you every night.”
Justin rested his forehead against hers.
“Okay,” he said at last. “Go. Clear your head. But come back to me, Sofia. I mean it.”
“I will.”
He kissed her again, deeper this time, hands sliding down to her waist. For a moment she almost pulled away, the weight of what she was about to do pressing hard against her chest. But she kissed him back, letting him believe the comfort he needed.
Later that afternoon, while Justin was out buying groceries, Sofia booked the flight. One-way ticket to London. Leaving the next morning.
She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the confirmation email, heart pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears.
Her phone buzzed.
Alex: Did you ask him?
She stared at the message for a long time before typing back.
Sofia: He said yes.
A few seconds later another message arrived.
Alex: I’ll be waiting at Heathrow. Terminal 5. Don’t change your mind.
Sofia closed her eyes and pressed the phone to her chest. She had just lied to the man who loved her more gently than anyone ever had. And she was about to fly straight into the arms of the man who had ruined her for anyone else. The crack in their peaceful lives had just become a fracture.
Sofia: see you soon, Alex…