The sculpture haired her.
Even hours later after she left Elias's studio, Ava couldn't shake the image :her own likeness carved in marble, ethereal and exposed,captured in a moment of reading toward what, she wasn't sure. The lines of the sculpture echoed in her mind :the curve of her neck, the longing in the figures eyes, it had been beautiful and terrifying.
She should have walked away.
Instead, she'd lingered.let him walk her for the gate, his hand grazing the small of her back like a magnet reluctant to release it's pull.when he opened the door for her,he hadn't tried to kiss her _he'd simply looked at her,like he was memorizing the moment like she was already a memory he didn't want to lose.
It was disarming.
Now, backin her apartment, Ava stood barefoot in the kitchen, her tea growing cold as she stared out the window at the cityscape. Light blinked across buildings like artificial stars.The air buzzed with potential and regret.
She glanced at her phone.
Still no message from Elias
Still no sign he'd followed up.
She hated how much she wanted him to.
Ava set the cup down too hard. It cracked at the rim the sound too loud in the silence.
What was happening to her.
She prided herself on control _measured decisions, boundaries,restraint but with Elias, something was unraveling.she'd let him speak to her like he already owned a piece of her, And worse she'd hadn't stopped him.
With a deep breath,she forced herself back into routine.she needed sleep. Tomorrow, she'd have meetings gallery visits,a call with the European clients. life would go on.
Still, when she slid into bed, it wasn't her professional accomplishment she thought about.
It was Elias's hand roughed from stone. The way he had looked at her sculpture, like he was baring his soul in the form of hers.
And the worst part?
She wanted it again.
The next morning, Ava woke early and headed to a client consultation in Soho. She dressed carefully:tailored black slacks, a soft white blouse,delicate silver jewelry, polished.proffesional .untouchable.
She kept her mind on work as long as she could.
But halfway through the day, while she was flipping through an artist portfolio in the halberg collective's conference room her assistant knocked lightly shocked her head in.
"There's a delivery for you "
Ava looked up. "from who?"
"No card just this.....
Her assistant entered holding a narrow,rectangular box wrapped in black paper and tied with a deep ribbon.
Ava felt her stomach flip.
She waited until she was alone to open it.
Inside was a single object _a small inside was a single object _ a small, smooth sculpture of obsidian shaped like a heart.But not an atomical one. This was abstract,twisted,like it was torn in half but forced to stay together.
At the base,one word was engraved.
YOURS.
No signature. No message. Just that.
She stared at it,fingers trembling slightly as she lifted the piece.it was cold and heavy. Real.
Her heart beat like a drum in her chest.she didn't need confirmation. She knew it was from him.
That night, Ava found herself back at the cathedral.
She didn't call. Didn't message. Just showed up, driven by a pull she no longer tend to understand.
The courtyard was dim. Lit only by the soft glow of lanterns. Along the ivy_covered walls.she hesitated at the gate,shw stepped forward and knocked.
The door opened instantly.
Elias stood there, shirtless,his skin streaked with dusk and sweat. He look like he'd been working for hours, yet his eyes were as sharp and awake as ever.
"you came, "he said, voice low.
"you sent me a heart".
He smiled."it's yours".
"I don't even know you ".
"you know the part of me that matters".
She stepped inside, heart thudding."is that so? "
"yes,"he said. "the rest is just noise. "
The evening unfolded like smoke.
He poured her wine_rich and red,almost black in the candlelight _and led her through his studio.He showed her unfinished pieces:a pair of hands reaching from a stone wall,a dancer caught in a swirl of metal ribbons,a faceless woman curled beneath a tree sculpted from shattered glass.
"They are all you, "he admitted quietly.
She turned to him,"That's not possible ".
"I started befor,we met. I dreamed of someone,for months. Someone made of silence and defiance and sorrow. When I saw you at the gallery.I knew".
"knew what?"
"That you were here".
Ava's breath caught.
He stepped closer. "you think I'm mad,that I've projected my obsession unto you. "
She didn't answer.
"maybe I have, "he whispered,"But that doesn't make it any less real".
His hand reached out,gently cupping her face.
"I've waited so long to find the shape of my own longing, "he said. "And it wears your skin".
She should have walked away. Instead, she leaned into his touch.
That night.,they didn't kiss.
They stood close, breathing each other in, barely touching. It was more intimate than any contact she'd ever had.
By the time she left,tge moon was high. The city was asleep. But her soul was wide awake.
Days passed.
The obsession bloomed like a dark flower.
They didn't see each other every day, but when they did, It felt like falling through time. Every conservation was a confession. Every touch _a tether.
Elias showed her more pieces, each one like a diary entry carved in stone. He spoke little about his past, but Ava learned to read between the silences.
He had loved before.And lost.The pain lingers in his work.
She didn't ask questions.
She didn't want to know if the heartbreak had come from abandonment or betrayal or something worse. It didn't matter.
What matter was the way he looked at her_as if she was the redemption of all the art he had bled into being.
And yet....
The more she let him in, the more she felt herself unravelino. She wasn't used to being seen completely. She didn't know how to hold the weight of someone else's devotion especially someone like Elias,who gave nothing by halves.
Some part of her feared the intensity.
Another part craved it.
One evening, she stayed late at his studio. He was working on a new sculpture _another woman, this time with her hand pressed against an invisible wall, as though trying to break free.
He didn't speak as he worked.He sculpted in silence, like the stone itself whispered to him.
Ava watched, entranced.
"you always made woman,"she said quietly.
"They are easier to understand"she smiled"i doubt that "
He set down his chiseled and looked at her."you tthink I'm obsessed ".
"I think you don't know how to let go".
He stepped forward."why should I let go of the only thing that's ever felt true? L
Her heart pounded.
"Because truth without boundaries becomes possession ".
His jaw tensed. "And what if I want to possess you? "
She met his gaze evenly,"Then you don't love me. You just want to hold the part of me that remind you of yourself ".
Silence stretched between them.
Then he said softly, "I would never hurt you"
"I won't believe that".
"But I can't promise I will always be gentle ".
Ava swallowed.
"I don't need gentle, "she whispered.
And finally _finally _he kissed her.