Chapter 12

A tall bookshelf extended up to the ceiling, serving as an entrance divider. Raphael rounded it from the right and finally saw the young woman sitting at the desk by the floor-to-ceiling windows. He took in her familiar figure and noticed her rosy lips that were pursed as she concentrated. She looked radiant and captivating. The childish innocence on her face was long gone. In its place was a cool, sharp gaze and lips that no longer smiled. Her slender fingers moved swiftly, flipping through documents one moment and typing on the keyboard the next. Her attention never wavered from the documents and the screen in front of her. However, the boyfriend she was supposed to have brought home didn't seem to be present. Raphael finally saw her. In the five months they had been apart, the young girl he once knew had transformed into a woman who seemed capable of standing on her own. The longer they had been apart, the more Raphael realized how deep his feelings for Catherine truly were. E