Chapter 6: Under the Same Umbrella

After tutoring, I started my coffee shop shift. The evening paid time-and-a-half.

Maybe I’d been too busy; I always felt dizzy, black spots dancing at the edges of my vision. My forehead burned. But sick days meant no pay, and I needed every dollar.

Thunder rumbled—so much for the weather app’s promise of clear skies.

Near closing, a heavy rain turned the street into a river. Shops closed up. I had no umbrella, so I stood under the awning, water pouring off the edges, waiting for a break in the storm.

But the rain hammered the awning, drowning out everything but the sound of Nathan’s shoes slapping through puddles.

He appeared, holding a black umbrella, shoes soaked but face unreadable. He stopped in front of me, umbrella tilted toward my side.

"Emma, let’s go home."

I didn’t expect him to come pick me up. Not after weeks of being forced to walk home alone.

The umbrella was small, half my body outside, rain soaking my uniform and making it cling to my skin.

Nathan pressed his lips together, tilted the umbrella further my way, and asked, voice tight:

"Emma, am I some kind of monster?"

"Huh?" I blinked at him.

"Why are you standing so far away? Like I have the plague or something?"

He suddenly reached out, pulling me close, his hand warm and steady on my arm.

For the first time in weeks, I didn’t pull away. Nathan’s hand lingered on my arm. The space under the umbrella shrank, and for a moment, the rain and the world disappeared.