What a joke.

Judy’s gaze hardened. “Joseph, the thing standing between us has never been you or me. It’s your parents and the gap between our worlds.”

“Who do you think I’ve been working so hard for? You think I’m doing all this just for myself? It was for us.”

Joseph looked at her, completely lost. “What do you mean, for us?”

But Judy had already turned away, throwing one last remark over her shoulder. “You figure it out. I have a client waiting.”

“I’ll say it one last time–the problem between us was never just us.”

She really didn’t have time to argue. A client was about to walk in, and she didn’t have the energy to deal with both Joseph and work at the same time.

Trying to keep one foot in a collapsing relationship while smiling politely at a high–end customer? She wasn’t that kind of person. She closed the door behind her, leaving Joseph alone in the hallway.

He stared at the office door, an ache curling in his chest – hard to name and harder to ignore. It felt like the whole world was moving forward, everyone finding their place, except him. He was the only one still stuck. Judy’s voice kept echoing in his head, circling like a carousel he couldn’t get off of.

“The problems between us were never about us. They were always something bigger.”

He muttered to himself, still confused. “What does that even mean?”

As he stepped out into the hallway, he caught sight of Judy again. This time, already in professional mode, speaking to a client. She wore a sleek, tailored white sheath dress, looking elegant and sharply cut. The client, clearly a wealthy socialite, carried herself with effortless poise and polished charm. And yet, Judy held her own with ease – confident, poised. There was no sense of being outmatched. In fact, they seemed evenly matched.

Seeing that, Joseph’s pupils tightened slightly. So, he had underestimated her.

Judy wasn’t just some pretty girl clinging to him. She had potential, depth, ambition. And he’d never truly seen it before. Between them… maybe she was right. Maybe it really was his parents who stood in the way. That thought struck something deep in his chest. And in that moment, Joseph made a decision.

He looked at Judy as she worked, and for a moment, she seemed to glow.

Confident and poised, she spoke with elegance and ease, her every gesture graceful, her presence full of charm and allure. There was something captivating about her – something he had never truly noticed before. It hit him then that he had to work harder too. Joseph slowly clenched his fists, a quiet resolve taking root inside him.

When Judy finished her meeting and returned to her office, he was already gone. Had he left? She let out a small breath of relief. Good. He was gone. With Joseph around, she couldn’t fully relax. She held back without even realizing it. She was afraid to speak too freely, scared he’d overhear something and judge it. After all, she hadn’t had the kind of education he had. She didn’t move in the same elite circles he did. But now, with him gone, she felt like herself again – unburdened, unafraid.

What Judy didn’t know was that what she did today, this one moment of composure, strength, and independence, would go on to shape the course of Joseph’s life. But that’s a story for another time.

On his way home, Joseph couldn’t stop thinking about her. The way she looked while she worked and carried herself. Why had he never seen this side of her before? There was something magnetic about her when she was focused, something powerful. He’d fallen for it completely. She wasn’t some delicate vine clinging to others for survival. She was a sunflower, reaching for her own sky, determined to grow on her own.

And now, after all the confusion and hesitation, Joseph finally knew what he had to do.