𝐔𝐧𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞.

𝐊𝐀𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

Maxine's POV

I lay on my bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, when my phone buzzed on the nightstand. I picked it up without much thought, thinking it was Damian checking in or another pointless notification. But when I saw the name on the screen, my heart skipped a beat.

Airis.

I sat up, frowning. Airis didn't message me outside of work time very often, and if she did, it was pretty formal. I was curious. So, I unlocked my phone and opened the chat.

"Hey, Mein Arzt. You free this weekend?"

I blinked at the screen. Free? This weekend? What did she want?

"Hi, Airis. Um, yeah? Why?".

"I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me and talk about something, just us."

I froze, re-reading the message to make sure I hadn't misunderstood. Dinner? Just us? Airis wasn't exactly known for her casual social invitations.

"Are you asking me out?" I typed before I could overthink it.

Her reply came after a brief pause.

"Yes, I am. A proper date or just about something, if you're up for it."

My stomach flopped over in a weird kind of surprise mixed with something I couldn't quite name. A date with Airis? The Airis? The poised, no-nonsense CEO who seemed untouchable?

I stared at my phone, unsure how to respond. My fingers hovered over the keyboard, my thoughts racing.

"Why?" I typed impulsively, then immediately regretted it. But the message had already sent.

Her response was surprisingly quick and disarmingly honest.

"Because i wanted to talk about my condition. About our session last week."

I thought she likes me, oh dear. It's only about her condition. I'm not expecting anything from her.

I took a shaky breath, typing back slowly.

"Oh about your condition, should i pick you up?"

Her reply came with a hint of humor.

"No, i can handle myself and besides my company is near in hospital so i would go to hospital instead"

As her final message came through, I laid my phone down on the couch, staring at it like it had just changed my life. And maybe, in some small way, it had.

Airis had asked me out. And for the first time in weeks, I felt something other than frustration or exhaustion. I felt... excited not really excited.

// assuming mo doc.