Chapter 2

Ben slammed his locker shut, frustrated after another argument with his girlfriend. All they did was bicker and kiss, bicker and kiss, stuck in an endless loop. He craved real conversation, depth, intimacy—the things he couldn’t find in a teenage romance.

As he walked to his car after football practice, he noticed a woman sitting alone in the coffee shop, nursing a mug of coffee. She was older, maybe in her fifties, but striking, with wavy red hair and piercing green eyes. His gaze lingered on her figure in a cream-colored blouse, the fullness of her breasts straining against the fabric.

Heat rose in his cheeks, and he looked away, confused by his reaction. He’d always been attracted to women his own age. Yet something about this woman resonated with him, like a distant melody sparking a memory.

He watched her through the window as he drove off, filled with a longing he couldn’t name. There was a grace and sureness to her, a mystery that captivated his imagination.

That evening he broke up with his girlfriend, suddenly unable to feign interest in their superficial romance. His mind kept drifting to the woman in the coffee shop, as if she held the key to something he couldn’t yet see.

Ben didn’t understand these new feelings stirring inside him. He only knew that he couldn’t escape the desire to see that woman again.