Chapter 38

SEBASTIAN

Monday mornings have never felt this slow.

I stood behind the counter, hands tucked into the front of my apron, staring out through the half-drawn blinds as the soft golden spill of morning light crept across the restaurant floor. The place was still quiet—only the usual clatter of prep work in the kitchen and the hum of the espresso machine filling the silence.

But my mind was not quiet.

It had been a brutal night. My throat still tasted like regret. My head felt like a storm had passed through it. I’d said things I shouldn’t have. To her. Things that came from pain, not truth. But what’s the difference when words land like knives?

I hadn’t seen Dahlia all morning. Not at the staff check-in, not during the floor assignments. I even pretended to glance around like I didn’t already know her name was supposed to be there. I kept telling myself she needed time. Space. That I’d talk to her when the moment was right—maybe take her asi