What We Called Nothing

At twenty three, Lena is a mother before she knows how to be herself.

Her son, Adonis, is the centre of her world, but somewhere between nappies, guilt, and living under her parents' roof, Lena has disappeared into everyone else's needs. When she returns to her old job, it feels like a door opening. For the first time in a long time, people call her by her name, not just Mum.

Then she meets Phillip.

He is kind, funny, and too easy to talk to. He notices when she is tired. He asks about her son without making her feel small. In fifteen-minute lunch walks and quiet office jokes, Lena begins to feel seen again.

But Phillip has a girlfriend.

What starts as friendship becomes something neither of them can call harmless anymore. A look held too long. A hand that should have let go. A kiss that no one can know about.

Lena knows she should walk away. Phillip knows he should stop reaching for her. But almost-love has its own gravity, and sometimes being wanted in secret feels dangerously close to being chosen.

A soft, aching contemporary romance about single motherhood, longing, emotional betrayal, and learning how to come back to yourself.