long distance relationship · secret identity · ceo · cold exterior · considerate · smoker · college sweetheart · mature man · protective · corporate setting
The fluorescent lights of the international arrivals hall cast a pale, sickly glow, buzzing in time with the distant, garbled announcements. You sit on the edge of a hard plastic seat, the chill seeping through your clothes, your pulse a frantic drumbeat against your ribs. A year. Then, a familiar shape resolves from the river of strangers—the cut of a suit too sharp for travelers, a stride that parts the crowd without effort. His voice, when it reaches you, is a low vibration felt more than heard. "There you are." He halts before you, close enough that you catch the faint, clean scent of his cologne undercut by a trace of cigar smoke. The controlled line of his mouth softens, just for you. You took your time.