Ethan didn't like the way she said it.
We need to talk.
Not casual.
Not reactive.
Final.
He stepped back slightly, giving her space, though something in him resisted it.
"About what?" he asked, voice steady.
Clair held his gaze.
"Not here."
He glanced around the café, suddenly aware of how public it was, how easy it would be for this to spiral in the wrong setting.
"Tonight?" he said.
She hesitated….just for a second….then nodded.
"Tonight."
That was all. No extra words. No softening.
Just… decision.
The rest of the day dragged.
Ethan tried to work. He really did.
Files open, notes half-written, phone calls that required just enough attention to keep him occupied…,but not enough to stop his mind from circling back…..to her.
To the way she looked when she walked in.
Different. Not just the hair. Something else.
Distance..,,.Clarity.
Like she had already figured something out… and he was the last to know.
He didn't like that.
By the time evening came, he was already there.
Same pattern.
Same control.
Pick the place. Get there first. Set the tone.
It wasn't crowded. Low lighting. Quiet enough to think. Perfect.
Ethan sat back in his chair, fingers tapping once against the table before stilling. His eyes moved around the room automatically, scanning, observing…..anything to stay grounded.
Then the door opened.
Clair walked in. And just like that…..
Everything else blurred.
She spotted him immediately, like she always did. No hesitation. No second-guessing.
She walked over, pulled out the chair across from him, and sat. No small talk. No smile. Just… focus.
"You've been texting me," she said. Not a question.
Ethan leaned back slightly.
"You've been ignoring me."
"On purpose."
"I figured."
Silence. Not uncomfortable.
Just… loaded.
Clair exhaled softly, like she was organizing her thoughts before speaking.
"I needed space," she said. "To think."
Ethan's jaw tightened faintly.
"And?"
Her eyes met his.
"And I figured something out."
That wasn't promising.
"You can't do this," she said.
Ethan frowned slightly. "Do what?"
"This," she gestured between them. "Whatever this is."
"That's helpful," he muttered while rolling his eyes.
Clair didn't react.
"You disappear when it suits you. You show up when you feel like it. You get jealous, then act like you don't care." Her voice stayed calm, but there was weight behind every word. "And somehow I'm supposed to just… go along with it."
Ethan's expression hardened slightly.
"I never asked you to."
"No," she said. "You didn't have to."
That landed.
He leaned forward slightly now, voice lower.
"You're acting like I'm the only one doing anything here."
"I'm reacting," she said simply.
"To what?"
"To you."
Silence. Again.
But this time, it pressed.
Clair shook her head slightly, like she was done going in circles.
"I don't do halfway, Ethan."
He stilled. There it was.
"I know," he said.
"That's the problem."
His gaze sharpened. "Why is that a problem?"
"Because you do."
No hesitation. No softness. Just truth.
Ethan leaned back, exhaling slowly, like he was buying himself time.
"This isn't…" he paused, choosing his words carefully. "It's not that simple."
"It is," she said. "You either want something real, or you don't."
"And if I don't?"
Clair held his gaze.
"Then we stop."
Just like that. Clean. Final.
Ethan's jaw tightened.
"You're making this an ultimatum."
"I'm making it clear."
Same thing. At least to him.
Silence stretched between them, heavier now.
This was the part he avoided. The part where things stopped being controlled.
Where there were no safe answers. Just choices and consequences.
"You're asking for a lot," he said finally.
Clair didn't flinch.
"I'm asking for honesty."
That again. He almost laughed.
"Same thing."
"Not really."
Her voice softened…..just slightly.
"I'm not asking for forever. I'm not asking for promises you can't keep."
She paused.
"I'm asking if you're willing to try. Properly."
Ethan didn't respond immediately.
Because that….. that was worse.
Not forever.
Not commitment.
Just… a real attempt.
No shortcuts.
No exits the second it got difficult.
And somehow, that felt heavier than anything else.
"You're serious about this," he said.
"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."
Of course she was.
Clair Monroe didn't do things halfway. That was always the problem.
Ethan looked at her. Really looked.
At the certainty.
At the calm. My
At the fact that she was giving him a choice… and fully prepared to walk away if he made the wrong one.
Most people didn't do that.
Most people hesitated.Stayed.Made it easier.
She didn't.
There it was again. That quiet part of him.
The one that didn't want to walk away.
He hated that part.
He exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair, eyes dropping briefly to the table before lifting back to her.
His mind ran through every outcome.
Every way this could go wrong.
There were plenty.
There were always plenty.
But none of them were enough to make him stand up and leave.
Not this time.
"Okay," he said.
The word landed between them.
Heavy.
Real.
Clair blinked once, like she hadn't expected it.
"Okay?" she repeated.
Ethan nodded once.
"Yeah."
A pause.Then…..
"One try."
No promises.
No guarantees.
Just a start.
Clair studied him for a moment, searching for something…..doubt, hesitation, anything that suggested he didn't mean it.
She didn't find it. So she nodded.
"One try."