The studio smelled faintly of pinewood. The walls were lined with frames from sunsets pictures to mountain ridges, storm clouds hovering over fields, and the kind of skyscrapers that looked like they were about to fall. Jace stood near the long table at the back, a couple flipping through one of his limited edition landscape books.
"These are stunning," the woman said, brushing her fingers along the corner of a page. "Do you do custom prints?"
"I do," Jace replied, keeping his voice warm. "Any size, any frame. I can have them ready within the week."
"Your composition is beautiful," the woman said. She was older, refined, with a scarf draped like a painting across her shoulders. "It almost feels like the clouds are breathing."
"Thank you," Jace said, forcing a smile. "That one's from Oregon. Took it just before a storm rolled in."
The man beside her gave an appreciative hum. "We'll take this one. And the vineyard shot too."
The woman nodded, intrigued. "You shot this one yourself? The coast?"
"I did," Jace said, stepping forward. "Right before sunrise. There was a moment where the fog broke just long enough for that light to come through. Lucky timing."
He answered their questions even smiled politely when they asked if he'd ever shot weddings.....he hadn't. Never but at least he'd shot people. But even while he talked and sold, his mind drifted to Amy.
The morning's kiss was still faintly warm on his cheek, but her voice echoed louder..."We're fine". It hadn't been defensive, or sharp. Just… tired. Like she'd already given up trying to explain what she was feeling.
He wrapped the couple's order carefully, tucked their card in his desk drawer, and his smile faded as he watched them leave the front door. He walked over to his camera stand adjusted the focus ring out of habit, then let his hands drop.
He hated this feeling. That there was something broken between them, and he couldn't name it. Couldn't fix it. And he didn't know if she wanted him to.
That same afternoon at fictional escapes.....
The bell above the shop door jingled for the fifth time in the past hour, and Amy didn't even look up from the register. Mrs Thompson had gone on a trip leaving her to handle the chaos. A delivery truck was late. A toddler had spilled juice on the children's shelf. Some teenage boy kept asking if Romeo and Juliet had a sequel and a woman had told her that she sounded rude when she asked her to help her pick a book at the romance section.
By 3PM, she was drained physically, emotionally, mentally. Every time she reached for her phone, she hesitated. Her thumb hovered over Jace's name in her call list, then pulled away.
They were fine… weren't they?,she said so herself.
But she hadn't stopped thinking about the look in his eyes when she walked out that morning. Or the way he'd offered dinner like a peace offering, and she'd shrugged it off with a pity reply.
She hated that.
Not because he was right about her mom. He wasn't. Not even close. But because she'd used his pain to defend her own, and now everything between them felt… tight. Like stretched string, seconds from snapping.
She took a breath, pulled her phone out again and this time, pressed the button. It rang twice before he answered. "Ames?"
She closed her eyes for a second, relief spilling through her that he answered.
"Hey," she said quietly. "You busy?"
"Just wrapped up with some clients. What's up?"
She chewed her lower lip, suddenly unsure how to say what she meant. "I, um… I was kind of a jerk this morning."
Jace was quiet for a beat. "You weren't."
"I was," she insisted. "And last night too. I just… I needed space, but I shouldn't have shut you out like that."
He softened. "You don't need to apologize.You were hurting. It's okay."
She blinked quickly, suddenly emotional. "Thanks. I'm still not ready to talk about her, but I don't want to fight with you. I love you and I'm sorry for bringing your dad up that way,i know how things are between you both and I shouldn't have used that against you.."
Jace exhaled slowly. "Its okay babe, I love you too and that's all that matters.."
A small smile tugged at her lips. "So I was thinking… you still owe me Thai food."
"Oh yes, I do" He said. She could feel him smiling from the other side
"Yep. But don't worry about it,I'll make it up to you,I'm picking it up myself."
Jace chuckled, the warmth in his voice returning. "You're coming by the studio?"
"If that's okay."
"It's perfect."
Amy nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "I'll see you soon."
"Okay".
She hung up and finally let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Her day was still a mess, but somehow, it felt lighter now. Like maybe, just maybe, she and Jace were finding their way back from the edge.
...
Amy stepped out of her car, balancing a brown paper bag of Thai food against her hip, her other hand clutching her phone. She had texted Jace fifteen minutes earlier: "On my way. Hope you're hungry". No reply yet, but that was okay. He was probably caught up helping a client or cleaning up the studio.
She smiled softly to herself, the events of last night tucked carefully away... forgiven, if not forgotten. They'd both danced around their wounds, shared an awkward breakfast, and tried to put it behind them. This evening was supposed to be a reset.
She reached the door to the studio, pushing it open slowly.
That's when she heard it.
Voices....low, close, intimate.
She paused in the entryway, the bag of food suddenly feeling too heavy in her arms.
"I still love you, Jace," a woman's voice said, smooth, steady, painfully familiar. "And I think you still love me too. You just don't want to admit it. Not yet."
Amy frowned, her breath catching.
Inside, Jace's voice followed, tight and strained. "Gina, you shouldn't have come. Not here. Not to New York."
Gina.
The name dropped like a weight in Amy's chest.
"Who's Gina?"
"I needed to come," Gina said. "To see if there's still something here. Because before there was ever an Amy, there was me."
Amy's hand tightened on the door handle. Her heart pounded like it already knew what it was about to walk into.
She pushed the door fully open.
Both Jace and Gina turned startled.
Jace's eyes went wide with horror the moment he saw her. Gina, on the other hand, didn't flinch. She merely dropped her hand from his arm and straightened with a thin, satisfied smile.
"What is going on here?" Amy stood frozen for a second, looking from one to the other. Then her gaze zeroed in on Gina.
"Amy....it's not what it looks like....I can explain" Jace said stepping further away from her.
Amy's mind flashed back to the woman at the bookstore yesterday. The sleek hair, the knowing eyes, the false interest in books. That weird energy Amy hadn't been able to place at the time now made sense.
That was her. That was Gina.
"It was you" she said quietly, voice sharp with realization. "You were at the bookstore."
"You were where?" Jace asked in disbelief.
Gina gave a soft shrug. "What can I say? I was curious."
Amy's stomach turned. "You watched me… and smiled like it was a game."
"I was just trying to see what kind of girl had taken my place," Gina said simply.
"I didn't know she came there," Jace said quickly, stepping forward. "I swear, Amy, I didn't invite her. She just showed up"
"Because she still loves you," Amy said bitterly. "Yeah, I heard."
"She's twisting everything," Jace insisted. "I told her to leave."
"Is she the old friend that sends random photography event invites,Jace?" Amy turned to look at him now, voice cracking. "Because it sounds a lot like the woman you didn't want to talk about"
He didn't say anything and to her that was answer enough.
"You lied... not with words but silence" Amy said quietly.
"Amy.....it's not what you think. I just thought she'd stop texting ...."
"Oh..... that makes sense now,all the lies,all the messages you called spam.....it all makes a whole lot of sense now" Amy said trying to fight back her tears. She can't afford to be seen broken.
"Amy..... listen to me..." He said as he walked towards her but she backed up.
Gina spoke over him. "You think this little phase with Amy changes anything? You and I..... we go way back. We shared a life. A future. What do you even have with her, Jace? Some sad little rebound dressed up like fate?"
Amy's breath hitched, but she didn't give Gina the satisfaction of reacting. She looked at Jace, eyes glassy. "Is that all I am to you?"
"No....God, no," he said, moving closer, desperate. "Ames, please, you have to believe me."
Amy turned to Gina. "You don't get to talk about what we are. You're not part of it."
"Oh, but I was," Gina replied coolly. "Long before you. Don't fool yourself.... you're just a placeholder for what we had. And when you're gone, he'll come back to me."
"You don't need to worry about that,I'm already gone," Amy whispered.
Jace stepped in front of her. "Amy, no. Don't do this."
She stared at him, the pain finally rising into her voice. "You told me we were starting over tonight. After everything last night… I thought we were okay. I thought we were trying."
"We are," Jace said, helpless.
Amy looked down at the food in her hands, like she'd just remembered it was there. She walked to the nearest table, set it down gently, and looked at him one last time.
"I wanted to spend my evening with you. Thought we could talk, laugh a little. Maybe pretend for a second that the world isn't always so complicated."
Then her voice cracked. "But I walked into this instead."
She turned slowly and defeated looking at Gina. "You can have him now,he's all yours" She turned and left, the door swinging closed behind her.
"Amy!" Jace ran after her, his footsteps echoing across the studio, but by the time he reached the street, she had already started the car swallowed into the blur of the city.
He stood frozen at the street,chest heaving, helpless. He should've told Gina to leave the minute she got there. He should've told Amy the whole truth when he had the chance. He should've.....
As he walked back into the studio looking helpless and dejected. Gina was still there,sitting there boldly like she's won a battle.
"I told you," came Gina's voice calm and poisonous. "She was never going to last."
Jace turned slowly, fury rising in his eyes.
"Get. Out."
Gina lifted an eyebrow. "Why? She already left. Looks like I did you a favor."
"You don't get to twist this," he snapped. "You blew up my life once. Don't sit here acting like you're doing it out of love."
Gina folded her arms. "You think she's going to forgive you after this? I'm glad she left. Because if I can't have you…" Her voice dropped. "No one can."
Jace stared at her, chest tight, jaw clenched.
"I said get the fuck out of here, Gina."
She held his stare a moment longer. Then she stood up,picked up her bag from the desk and walked out slowly, dramatically as if she owned every broken piece left behind.
The door slammed shut behind her.
And Jace stood there surrounded by silence, guilt, and the scent of untouched Thai food that suddenly made him feel sick.