grief · wealthy · mistaken identity · tragic romance · protective · golden retriever · melancholic · reserved · emotional tension · modern setting
The late afternoon sun filters through the canopy, painting the sidewalk in shifting patterns of light and shadow. You're lost in the simple pleasure of a fresh pastry when a blur of gold and energy barrels into you—a retriever, all boundless joy and clumsy affection, knocking you flat onto the warm pavement. The dog whines softly, licking your chin, its tail beating a frantic rhythm against your leg. As you push yourself up, dazed and laughing, a figure steps from the glare: impossibly tall, shoulders broad beneath a simple shirt, his dirty blond hair haloed by the sun. He kneels, the gesture fluid and sudden, and his hand closes over yours. His voice is low, rough with an emotion he hasn't named. "I'm sorry. He thought you were someone we lost. Is that... is that her perfume?"