Page 61 of The Heart of Winter

Was he trying to win me over at any cost, just to get back at me? Probably.

Today, he was wearing a black T-shirt, like always. My eyes drifted down to his chest.

The drawing printed there depicted… fuck. It was almost a romantic scene!

An elven prince with long white hair, dressed in soft gray-blue coronation robes, stood in a garden full of blooming flowers.

Next to him stood a mint-haired man, in a similarly elegant medieval robe and… wait! The hands of these characters were, in fact, touching, just like ours had during the meeting! Only barely. Shyly, the side of Sariel’s hand was touching the side of the prince’s.

"You’re quite passionate about drawing things that can never be true," I said in a dry tone.

Fuck. I shouldn’t have reacted. Shouldn’t have let him know I saw it, understood it, what he was trying to communicate…

"Oh, but they are already true." His lips stretched in a subtle smirk.

I didn’t answer. It was bizarrely stirring, knowing that he had drawn me, over and over, day after day, spent time sketching my face, carefully refining every detail on his tablet.

But I schooled my expression to stay neutral. I had to act like I just… ignored it, to keep up the illusion of indifference, of professionalism.

Standing this close, I was lightly surrounded by his scent—a cool, peppermint freshness. It was pleasant. I so wanted to inhale more deeply, but I hadn’t lost my mind just yet.

The elevator slowly emptied, but not enough for the space to feel open. By the time we reached our floor, there were still plenty of people inside. When it was time for us to get out, Sariel turned slightly and said, his voice assertive, "Make some room, gentlemen."

A moment later, I stepped out into the hallway without any trouble.

There was a moment when I could’ve said something, but I didn’t. After a beat of hesitation, I just turned and walked to my office, no ‘thank you’, nothing.

Sariel followed, two steps behind. I could hear him. Feel him. Ignoring him felt wrong. I was being inconsistent, sometimes I acted like I didn’t care, and other times… not so much.

The time was coming. I really needed to pull myself together. And figure out what I wanted.

Whether to fall, or keep climbing.

SARIEL

For the next week, I worked at full speed, throwing myself into the BA app task. I did thorough research on similar apps, analyzed user reviews, and noted what people praised and what they disliked. I also combed through forums for interface designers, arming myself with as much insight as possible, along with everything I already knew from my own past interest in the field.

Then, I started redesigning the app’s interface. Unfortunately, that meant staying late after hours. Winter had probably noticed that I had stopped showing up by the elevators at our usual time—the time when we often ended up waiting together in silence. A comfortable silence. A quiet awareness of each other’s presence.

Three days in, something interesting happened. It was fifteen minutes past the time I usually left, but I still had a lot of work to do. That’s when I saw Winter walk slowly down the hallway, passing by the door to our office.

Our eyes met for a brief moment. He saw me sitting there, still working, but he didn’t say anything. It seemed like he had come to check on me.

Well, he found me in full-on employee mode.

Even more interesting… did he miss those short instances when we’d see each other in the hallway? Or was he just wondering whether I was even showing up for work, whether I had bailed on DevApp completely?

This week, there was also a little shift in my relationship with… Skye! A few times when I was sitting alone in the cafeteria, he came over and sat with me. We just chatted a bit—nothing major—but it honestly made me content. Building even the smallest connection with Winter’s family didn’t seem like a bad idea, especially when I thought about the long run.

By the end of the week, I was ready. I told Manager Lorens that I had finished my proposal project, and he reviewed it. I could see that he was surprised by how much I had managed to accomplish. He must have assumed that the lazy son of the CEO wouldn’t be capable of producing anything worthy of his time.

He requested a few minor adjustments, and after I made them, he said we could take my work to Winter for review.

A wave of stress hit me instantly. I went back to my desk, trying to collect myself. About thirty minutes later, Lorens told me it was time, Winter was waiting for us.

I followed him down the hall, feeling my throat tighten.

Winter was alone in his office. When we entered, he didn’t stand up. He didn’t even look at me. Here we were again…

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