Chapter 1_The First Glance
Sanaz picked up her cup of coffee and stared out the window. The gentle spring rain was falling, leaving the street slick and glistening. She loved this café — quiet, cozy, and far from the noise of her life.
A life that, lately, was suffocating her.
It had been three months since her engagement to Sohrab — the son of a wealthy family, educated, polite, and... boring. She didn’t love him, but her parents were happy. His family was happy. Everyone was happy — except her.
“Excuse me, is this seat taken?”
Sanaz turned her head. A tall man stood beside her — his dark, messy hair falling slightly over sharp, mysterious eyes that glimmered with something unusual. He wore a black leather jacket, and the scent of his cologne — strong, bitter, masculine — filled the air.
“The other tables are empty,” Sanaz said coldly, turning back to her coffee.
“I know. I just don’t like sitting alone.”
There was something strange about his tone — not pleading, not arrogant. Just... confident.
Sanaz looked at him. “I’m not someone you know.”
“Neither am I. Maybe that’s exactly why I sat here.”
He smiled, and without waiting for her permission, sat down across from her.
Sanaz frowned. “Excuse me, I didn’t say you could sit.”
“I know. But I sat anyway.” He picked up his cup and took a sip. “My name’s Arman. You?”
“It doesn’t matter what my name is.”
“Alright, Miss It-Doesn’t-Matter.” His grin widened.
Sanaz tried not to, but a faint smile appeared on her lips. The man was bold — annoyingly so — but there was something about him she couldn’t quite dislike.
“Why are you here?” Arman asked, his eyes fixed on hers.
“For coffee.”
“That’s not what I mean. I mean, why is a beautiful girl like you sitting alone in a café on a rainy afternoon — like she’s running away from something?”
Sanaz held her breath. How did he know?
“You think you know me?”
“No. But I see you. And I can see that your eyes tell a story your lips don’t want to say.”
Silence.
For some reason, Sanaz felt that this stranger saw her more clearly than anyone ever had.
“What about you?” she asked softly. “Why are you here?”
“I’m running away from everything — from my past, from my mistakes, from myself.” He lifted his gaze from his cup and looked straight into her eyes. “So far, I haven’t succeeded. But maybe today everything changes.”
“Why today?”
“Because today, I met you.”
Sanaz’s heart skipped a beat. The words were simple — cliché, even — but the way Arman said them... the way he looked at her... was something else entirely.
She set her cup down. “You’re awfully bold.”
“I know.” He smiled. “But at least I’m honest.”
