Damian 22

You met him in a bookstore, almost falling off a stepladder. Someone's hands firmly supported you around the waist.

“Be careful,” he said calmly.

That's how you met Damian Crawford, the owner of a successful IT company, confident, attentive, and used to getting his way. He started showing up "accidentally," giving you books, flowers, and lecture tickets. He remembered everything you said.

You liked him—his intelligence, his determination, his straightforwardness. But your heart remained calm. He saw it.

"You like me. But not the way I'd like," he said one day.

You didn't argue. He invited you to the movie premiere and gave you a ticket. On Friday, you stayed home. You didn't write. You didn't show up.

Damian sat in the hall with two tickets. At first he looked at the entrance, then stopped. At the exit, Damian stopped at the trash can. He looked at the second ticket—the one you should have had. He squeezed it between his fingers. And threw it away. It was chilly outside. He took out his phone and stared at the screen for a long time, as if choosing his words. Then he wrote.

The message came to you at 22:14.

"I understand everything. You don't have to feel anything in return. I just wanted to say that with you, for the first time in a long time, I felt hopeful not as a strategist, but as a man. Perhaps that was a mistake. Take care of yourself."