Chapter 84 Chapter 84
Chapter 84
Celine sat on the edge of the couch in the sitting room, legs drawn up, arms wrapped loosely around her knees. The apartment was quiet after dinner. Dishes done, kitchen light off. Only the small lamp on the side table stayed on, throwing soft yellow across the rug.
Ariana sat in the armchair across from her. She had her phone in her hand, thumb moving slowly across the screen, but her eyes kept lifting to Celine. She’d noticed the change the minute they walked through the door. Celine hadn’t said much during the meal. Just nods and small answers. Now the silence stretched longer than usual.
“You’ve been quiet since we got home,” Ariana said, setting her phone face-down on the armrest. “That’s not like you.”
Celine didn’t look up right away. She stared at the pattern in the rug, tracing it with her eyes. Then she let out a slow breath.
“I’m scared,” she said, voice barely above a whisper.
Ariana leaned forward a little. “Scared of what?”
Celine turned her head. Their eyes met across the small space between couch and chair.
“Of getting close to him.”
Ariana waited. Didn’t push. Just listened.
“It’s not Ethan,” Celine said fast, like she needed to get that part out first. “He hasn’t done anything wrong. He’s been kind. More than kind sometimes. That’s what makes it hard.”
Ariana’s brows came together gently. “I don’t follow.”
Celine looked down at her hands again. Fingers twisting together. “His world is so different. The money. The way people talk to him. The women who move in those circles like they were born there. They know exactly where they fit.”
She stopped for a second, swallowing.
“I don’t belong in that,” she said. “I’m just… me. Someone who got a job here. Someone who almost didn’t make it out of that fire. That’s how he noticed me. Not because I’m anything special. Not because I fit anywhere near his life.”
Ariana shook her head slowly. “Celine—”
“No, wait,” Celine cut in, voice firmer now. “Let me say it. I see how people look at him. How they watch him. How they expect things. And I keep wondering… what happens when they start looking at me the same way? When they see me standing too close? When they think I’m trying to take something that isn’t mine?”
“You’re not taking anything,” Ariana said. “You’re doing your job.”
“I know,” Celine answered. “That’s the worst part. Nothing is happening. Nothing at all. It’s just work. Files and meetings and emails. That’s it.” She gave a short laugh that sounded thin. “But I still feel like this.”
Ariana tilted her head. “Feel like what?”
“Like I care more than I should,” Celine said quietly. “And I don’t even know if he cares back. Maybe I’m reading too much into it. Maybe it’s just gratitude. Or the new desk. Or being around him every day. Maybe I made the whole thing up in my head.”
She hugged her arms tighter around her legs. “I don’t want to admit something that might not be real.”
Ariana reached across the gap between them and rested her hand on Celine’s knee. “Sometimes feelings show up whether you invite them or not.”
Celine looked at her. “That’s exactly what scares me.”
They sat without talking for a minute. The clock on the wall ticked softly. Outside, a car passed on the street below.
Then Celine spoke again, even quieter. “Ariana… do you think I’ll ever remember anything from before?”
The question landed between them like a stone dropped in still water.
Ariana’s hand stilled on Celine’s knee. She kept her expression steady, but her fingers tightened just a fraction.
“Why now?” she asked gently.
“I don’t know,” Celine said. “Everything feels like it’s moving again. New job. New desk. Him. It’s like I walked into the middle of a book and everyone else knows the first chapters. And I keep wondering… what if I had someone? What if I loved someone once? What if I was completely different?”
Ariana looked away for a second—toward the dark window—then back.
“You will remember,” she said. “When you’re ready. I believe that.”
Celine searched her face. “You always sound so sure.”
Ariana managed a small smile. “I have to be.”
She didn’t mention the doctor’s words from months ago. The careful explanation about the extent of the injury. The chances. The way he’d used phrases like “significant gaps” and “may not return fully.” She’d sat in that office chair gripping the armrests while he spoke, and she’d decided right then that Celine didn’t need to hear any of it. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Instead she squeezed Celine’s knee once. “What matters is who you are right now. This version of you. This life you’re building. That’s real. That counts.”
Celine nodded slowly. “I just don’t want to lose myself again. Even if I don’t know who I was.”
“You won’t,” Ariana said. “You’re stronger than you think.”
A beat passed.
“And about Ethan…” Ariana added. “Be careful with your heart.”
Celine gave a small, tired smile. “I’m trying.”
“Good,” Ariana said. “Because people like him come with storms. Always do.”
They didn’t say much after that. Ariana stood first, stretching her back with a quiet groan. Celine unfolded her legs and stood too. They moved around the sitting room turning off lights, straightening cushions out of habit.
“Good night, Ariana,” Celine said when they reached the hallway.
“Good night, Celine.”
They went to their separate rooms. Doors closed softly behind them.
Celine changed into her sleep shirt and shorts, brushed her teeth, climbed under the covers. She lay on her back staring at the ceiling for a long time. Thoughts moved slow and steady Ethan’s quiet voice when he thanked her for catching the error today, the way his eyes stayed on her a second longer than necessary, the desk that now sat so close to his.
Then the older worries slipped in. The blank space where her past should be. The fear that caring for him might crack something open she wasn’t ready to face.
She turned onto her side, pulled the blanket higher.
Across the hall, Ariana sat on the edge of her own bed. She didn’t turn on the lamp. Just sat in the dark, elbows on her knees, hands clasped. She thought about the girl she’d found half-conscious.