#Chapter 8: Surprises Left and Right

Lauren I pressed myself back against the cold, tiled wall, the chill seeping through my thin blouse and grounding me, if only for a second. My breath came in shallow, uneven gasps, and my chest felt too tight, like I’d forgotten how to breathe. My heart was pounding—loud, insistent, impossible to ignore. I couldn’t turn around. I wouldn’t. But I had felt him. His presence lingered like a weight pressing down on my shoulders, his gaze burning into me even after the elevator doors had closed on his departure to the floors above. Everything in me screamed to look back, to confirm that he was gone, that it wasn’t just my imagination. But I knew better. I couldn’t let myself. Watching him walk away should’ve been a relief. It should’ve felt like exhaling after holding my breath underwater, like breaking the surface and finally being free. But instead, it left me hollow, as if I were sinking deeper into a sea of emotions I couldn’t outrun. I thought I’d handle this better. I