Love, Lies & Lattes

By the time evening rolled in, Kiara had run out of distractions. The badge sat beside the register like a question mark she couldn’t answer. The café was closed, the chairs stacked, the playlist long since silent. Still, she lingered.

There was no denying it now—something had shifted.

She wasn’t ready to label it. Maybe she didn’t want to. But Rohan’s quiet return, his lack of smugness, his simple act of returning something she'd lost—it had chipped away at the narrative she’d built. The villain in her story wasn’t acting like one anymore.

Later, curled up on her couch, she opened her phone. The familiar message icon from Cupid’s Café blinked at her.

Ro: "Coffee ever stop feeling like a battlefield?"

She blinked at the message, timing uncanny as always. Coincidence? She wasn’t sure anymore.

Kiara: "Not today. But I got my badge back, so maybe it was a small victory."

Ro: "Badge?"

Kiara: "Long story. A small thing someone returned. Didn’t know I missed it until it came back."

There was a pause, and then:

Ro: "Sometimes it takes someone else to notice what we’ve lost."

She stared at the message, feeling it settle in her chest.

Kiara: "Ever been wrong about someone?"

Ro: "Yeah. Once. Maybe twice. Usually when I’m too stubborn to admit it."

Kiara: "Same."

They didn’t talk much after that. Just a few quiet exchanges, laced with an unfamiliar stillness. Not flirtatious, not teasing—just real.

And somewhere, between one breath and the next, Kiara realized the war between her and Rohan hadn’t ended.

It had simply... changed. The lines were still there, but they were blurrier now, not as solid as they used to be. She wasn’t sure if that scared her or intrigued her more.

She placed the badge on her bedside table and turned off the light.

Sleep didn’t come easily. But for the first time in a while, it didn’t come with bitterness either.