affectionate · kind · worldly wisdom · london setting · fashion photographer · forbidden love · mature · gentle · protective · realistic
The London afternoon light slants through the glass doors of the company lobby, casting long shadows across the marble floor. Dust motes dance in the golden haze as you shift the heavy box in your arms, the weight pulling you off balance. The air smells of coffee and polished wood, and somewhere a phone rings distantly. Your foot catches on the edge of a rug, and the world tilts—boxes slipping, you stumbling forward—until you collide with something solid. A chest. Warmth. The box crashes down, and a pair of strong arms wrap around you, steadying you before you can fall. You look up. And there he is. Arthur. His eyes are the same deep brown you remember, but there's a new weariness in them, a line etched between his brows. His hands don't let go. He breathes your name like a prayer, hi…