Page 26 of So Close to You
Sitting on the bed, Seraphina slips on one of her shoes. Her hair falls in disarray over her shoulders, and the reddish marks scattered across her neck mercilessly betray what happened hours earlier. For Nerissa, seeing her like this should still feel beautiful.
And it does.
That’s the problem.
Because she no longer has any idea how to love that woman without ending up shattered every time morning comes.
She fastens her wristwatch and watches as Seraphina buttons her white shirt with fingers that tremble slightly.
Fear.
Always the same fear.
That someone will discover the truth.
“All set,” Nerissa says after checking something on her phone. “The taxi is waiting downstairs. You’d better hurry beforeyour husband gets home first and starts asking uncomfortable questions.”
Seraphina looks up immediately. The sarcasm hits her like a visible slap, and for a second her expression tightens.
“Nerissa…” Seraphina whispers.
“What?” the surgeon replies, shrugging as she picks up her badge from the back of a nearby chair. “Would you rather I pretend that isn’t exactly what’s going to happen the moment you walk through that door?”
Seraphina rises too abruptly. She still smells like her, like everything they shared that night, and yet the urgency to leave is already evident in every gesture, in the way she avoids looking directly into her eyes.
Nerissa hates that with all her soul.
She hates watching her transform back into the impeccable wife before she’s even left the room.
“Please, don’t do this,” Seraphina pleads, taking a hesitant step toward her.
The vulnerability in her voice would have been enough on any other day to grant her that small request.
But today, Nerissa stands her ground.
“Do what?” she shoots back, turning toward her with her arms crossed. “Tell the truth we both already know?”
Seraphina swallows hard, visibly shaken.
“You know perfectly well what I risk every time I come to see you,” she replies.
Of course.
The consequences.
The same old conversation.
The risk.
The fear.
Never a clear, courageous declaration of love.
Nerissa feels an unbearable pressure building beneath her breastbone, as if something inside her is struggling to break free.
And with that, she takes a step toward Seraphina, closing the distance.
“And what am I risking?” she challenges.
