"So where does your mother live?" the stranger asks politely, pulling me out of my thoughts as he guides me down the stairs of the subway station and into the sea of people waiting to move through the turnstiles. 

"Excuse me?" I look up at him confused as we join the end of the line.

"Sorry. You said you were heading to your mother's house, I was just wondering where that is?" he continues with a smile as he reaches into the back pocket of his dark navy chinos to pull out his wallet. 

"Oh, right. She lives in Brooklyn" I reply sheepishly.

He nods, thinking for a moment before looking down at his wallet and pulling out his metro card. Instinctively, I reach into my purse and do the same. I stare down at my well-loved metro card for a moment, praying that there's enough money on it to get me through the gate before looking back up at the handsome man next to me.

"It's surprisingly busy considering it's almost nine o'clock on a Wednesday evening" he comments, looking around as we make it to the front of the queue. 

"Shit, is it really that late already?" I cuss under my breath as I swipe my card and push my way through the turnstile. I hadn't really checked the time since I had gotten home from work but I guess it makes sense considering the picture I smashed of Liam and I had caught the last rays of sun on my way out the door.

I quickly put my card away and within seconds, the stranger slips his warm hand back into mine and pulls me through the swarm of people like he knows this station like the back of his hand. It's surprising, considering he doesn't look like he'd be from this part of the city, judging by the way he is dressed. Zoning out, my eyes rake over his tall stature. 

I'm above the average height for a woman but standing next to him makes me feel small. He must be at least six feet if not a little taller. His muscular body is clothed in a white dress shirt and his dark navy chinos with tan dress shoes and a matching coloured belt while his dark brown hair is slowly working its way out of its styled quaff due to the humidity of the subway station. He truly looks like some sort of god and is one of the most attractive men I have seen in a while. 

He looks like he's come straight from work, a corporate-looking job too. Shit, I must've gotten into his cab as he was on his way home. I quickly snap out of my thoughts in an effort to stop myself from drooling over this undeniably handsome man holding my hand and continue to follow him over to the departure board.

We stand still, staring at the board for a moment, my eyes raking over it to try and find the right train.

"Crap, the next train leaves in less than two minutes," I say, frowning. I turn and look at him and I'm met with the most stunning grin I've ever seen.

"Well, come on then, looks like we are running" he replies, playfully.

I nod and a small smile creeps onto my face as he grabs my hand once again and begins dragging me behind him as we run through the station, frantically trying to find the right platform before the train leaves.

We manage to find the right platform within a minute or so and slip onto the train just as the doors are closing. He grins at me and I give him a small smile in return as I attempt to catch my breath from the brief burst of energy.

Shifting awkwardly on my feet, I watch him manoeuvre his way through the people milling in the doorway and plop down onto an empty seat. He gently places my bag on the floor next to his feet before patting the seat next to him, ushering for me to sit down. 

"I don't bite, I promise" he chuckles, making me smile again. I slowly begin to squeeze my way through the crowd, trying not to bump into anyone as the carriage gently rocks back and forth. He grins as I sit down next to him and my stomach flutters. Liam had never looked at me the way this man is looking at me currently and it just proves that I should have left him a long time ago.

Slightly giddy and mildly confused by this new feeling, I stare at the handsome man next to me, his stunning blue eyes watching my every move. His expression is soft and playful and I notice that his angular jaw has started to gain the slightest air of a five o'clock shadow while his cheeks have the slightest pink glow to them, due to having just run through the subway station. He mustn't be too much older than me, maybe late twenties or early thirties?

"Enjoying yourself?" he asks amused, startling me. My cheeks flush with embarrassment as I realise that he was just watching me stare at him. I look down at my hands for a split second, picking at a loose hangnail.

"Sorry," he chuckles. "Didn't mean to embarrass you."

I look up at him with a small smile and he flashes me a stunning grin. I mentally smack myself for being so daft and serious, telling myself I need to lighten up because he's only trying to be nice.

"So... do you have a name?" he asks, shifting the conversation.

"Oh, I mean, yeah? But... umm... why do-"

"I want to know? Good question" he continues, grinning at me. "I just think it would be nice to know the name of the beautiful woman I've just spent almost an hour running around the city with after she accidentally got into my cab."

My smile turns into a sheepish grin as I briefly recollect the past hours' events shuddering as my thoughts drift back to Liam. Instinctively, my hand finds my face as my smile disappears, lightly tracing the spot where he had slapped me. The skin underneath my fingers is puffy and sensitive, telling me that there will definitely be a mark in the morning. If I'm lucky, my mother might not heckle me about it too much, maybe she'll actually have some sympathy for me for once in her life. 

"You okay?" the man asks, concern on his face and my eyes drift back to meet his.

"Yeah, sorry. My name is Hayley" I reply quietly, forcing a smile.

"Well, it's lovely to make your acquaintance, Hayley. My name is Theo."

"Theo..." God, even his name is attractive. "Just Theo? Or is it short for something?"

"Short for Theodore. My parents thought it would be a wonderful idea if all of their children had names that had a built-in nickname and now here we are."

"Ah, I see" I reply grinning. "So you have siblings then?"

"Indeed I do. An older brother and a younger sister."

"And their names?"

"Nate, short for Nathaniel and Dani, short for Daniella" he replies with a grin.

"Oh, wow. It must be nice to have siblings. Like a lifetime best friend" I smile back at him, this time more genuinely.

"Yeah, something like that. I take it from that response you don't have any siblings then?"

"Unfortunately not" I start, my smile turning to a frown.

"My parents only had me, thought I would be their golden child. My mother, Katie, poured her life into me, she wanted me to be the next big surgeon just like my father was. My father, James, just wanted me to be happy. However, years passed and much to my mother's disappointment I never became a surgeon. Sometimes I wish they had had another kid, might've taken the pressure off me a little, ya know?"

Theo nods, pondering my explanation for a moment. I take the brief moment of silence to check my phone. I pull it out of my purse and unsurprising, I have no new messages. It's not like Liam will be home to discover that I'm gone for at least a couple more hours. 

Glancing at the time, I run through the subway map in my head again and realise that I'm only just going to make it to my mother's house before she goes to bed which will probably piss her off. Even though tomorrow is a Thursday and she doesn't work on Thursdays, my mother has always been a stickler for her strict night-time routine which was one of the many things she also tried to enforce on me, even as an adult.

I shiver and turn my attention back to Theo who is once again, watching me intently.

"So, what's it like having siblings?" I ask quietly, pushing the thoughts of Liam and my mother out of my head.

"It's nice. Obviously, as kids, it was a different story but now we are all older, we are all really close. For ages, it was just my brother and I. Nate's three years older than me so there was always a healthy dose of competition. Dani came along when I was seven and Nate was ten so it was quite a shock to us both. But we loved her from the second she came home from the hospital."

"That's so sweet."

"Yeah. I miss them though. They all live back in my home state, I'm the only one that lives in New York. Don't get me wrong, I came here for work and I love living here. It's just a bit lonely sometimes" he gives me a small smile, a hint of sadness in his eyes.

I nod in agreement as my thoughts briefly to my father. God, I miss him.

"Your family, where do they live?" I ask softly.

"Back in Washington State. My mother, Eloise, is a teacher and my father, Matthew, is the CEO of some expensive tech engineering type company. Dad's a workaholic asshole, he and Mom split up a while ago and they can't stand being in the same room as each other. Their divorce was fine, although I think it upset Dani quite a bit. Mom has been thriving since she left him though, even remarried last year to a great guy and he's been a great stepdad as far as things go."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Eh, it is what it is. More excitingly though, Nate is married and has a kid now and Dani is a corps de ballet apprentice at The Washington Ballet."

"Wow, that's so cool!" I beam at him. 

"Yeah, it's great. Dani is incredible and I love being an uncle. It just sucks 'cause I'm so far away. I feel so guilty, especially because Dad has always been quite hard on Dani. Nate and I try to protect her as much as we can, but it's hard when I live where I do. She insists that she's fine though, so I just have to take her word for it."

"I see. Hopefully, she's doing okay. You said you came here for work? What do you do for work?"

"I'm an attorney" he replies curtly, catching me off guard by his sudden change in demeanour. Clearly, this is a stiff point of conversation for Theo. I stare back at his expression as a frown creeps onto my face. His expression softens slightly when he notices my frown but not enough to dissolve the new tension in the air.

"Can I ask what type of law you specialise in?" I squeak awkwardly, praying I haven't pushed him too far, especially considering I've only just met him.

He sighs and runs his hands over his face. He looks out the window at the dark tunnels whizzing past us before turning his attention back to me.

"Criminal" he mutters, quietly.

"And I assume it's a sore subject then?"

"No, not really. I love my job, don't get me wrong, it's just shit sometimes. It's exactly what I wanted for my life, sometimes it's just hard having to defend people who might not have always done the right thing. Makes me question my morals."

"I guess that's fair enough. Where did you study?" I ask, trying to shift the conversation slightly.

"Stanford Law School in California, but I sat the bar exam in New York after I moved here" he replies with a small smile.

"So you've been living away from home for quite a while then, huh?"

"Ever since I was eighteen and left for law school. But enough about me, you've asked me a lot so now it's my turn to ask you some questions, seeing as we still have ages of time to kill" he finishes, the playful grin returning to his face.

I nod, anxiety building in my stomach.

"Tell me, Miss Hayley, have you always lived in New York City?"

"No" I start shaking my head. "I grew up all over the place, my parents travelled a lot for work but we spent all of my teenage years in Boston, Massachusetts State. My parents then moved to New York City for work when I moved into my residence at college. I followed them here after I graduated."

"Oh, that's cool. What college did you go to?"

"I went to Harvard University"

"Wow! Ivy League, I'm impressed. What did you study?"

"I did a bachelor of the arts majoring in psychology and sociology and then went on to do my Master of Liberal Arts in Psychology" I reply, with mild embarrassment.

"Oh man, that's amazing! So I take it you're a practising psychologist then?"

"Ummmm, not exactly" I reply sheepishly, fidgeting with my hands. "I finished my master's about three years ago and moved here but when I got to the city, I wasn't able to find a job as a psychologist so I've been working random jobs ever since. I never really got around to looking for a job in the psychology field again." 

"Bummer. Well, maybe someday you'll be able to find a job in the field and get back into it"

I nod and look out the window quickly as we pull up to the next station, the carriage softy rocking as it slows to a stop. I glance down at the time on my phone and instinctively, my stomach gives a quiet growl. Shit, I haven't eaten since before my shift at the bar this afternoon. Hopefully, I can scab some food from my mother when I make it to her house.

"You said you were going to your mother's house but your parents both moved to the city together? If you don't mind me asking, did they separate?" Theo asks gently, breaking me from my thoughts.

Instantly, my vision floods with memories from the night my father died. I shiver again and drop my gaze to my hands as tears well in my eyes, fighting hard to keep them from falling. Even though it happened seven years ago, it will forever be burned into my memories. The one day in my life that I truly regret and wish things had turned out differently. How ironic, I'm qualified in psychology and yet I'm the one that probably needs to get some help.

"Not exactly" I mumble. "My dad... He, ahhh... he died in a car crash when I was twenty-one."

"Oh god, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay" I reply as I look up at him with a sad smile as a tear escapes from the corner of my eye. I go to wipe it away but he beats me to it, his hand gently caressing my cheek.

We stare at each other for a moment, frozen, before he quickly drops his hand and shifts awkwardly in his seat, a smile creeping onto his handsome face.

I go to continue the conversation but I'm quickly cut off by the static crackly voice of the train's intercom.

'Attention, passengers: we are sorry to announce that this B line service to Brighton Beach is delayed and is expected to depart in approximately thirty minutes. This is due to a mechanical issue.'

"Shit" I curse under my breath. I look down at my phone and then out the window to check what station we are stopped at. Running the subway map in my head, I work out that there is still another half hour to go before we reach my mother's stop so the delay would make it so we still had an hour left. My mother will definitely be asleep by then. Goddammit. She's not going to be impressed if I wake her up but I don't have much choice.

"Well, that's not ideal" Theo comments, a frown taking shape on his full lips.

"No, it's not" I mutter, running my fingers through my hair.

"Hopefully they get it back up and running in thirty minutes as they said. In the meantime though, we can continue to learn more about each other."

He winks at me with a grin sneaking back onto his face and I feel myself relax a little.

"So, if you don't mind me asking and you definitely don't have to answer if it's too sore of a subject, but when did it happen? Your father's death, I mean?"

I suck in a sharp breath. Maybe telling Theo will be a good thing? Instead of holding it all in like normal.

"About seven years ago" I start, looking up at him as I attempt to stop myself from bursting into tears.

"I was visiting my parents over summer break, my father was on his way home from the hospital and mom had asked me to call him and see if he could pick up some dinner on his way home. So I called him and he picked up but he must not have been paying attention to the road because then, all of a sudden, there was a long, loud crashing noise and the line went dead. They managed to pull him from the wreck and he was rushed back to the hospital. When my mother and I got there, we found out it was a head-on collision with a truck. They had tried to save him but his injuries were fatal and he died on the way there."

"Jesus" Theo whispers, looking at me his eyebrows knitted together and an empathic look on his face.

Tears begin to stream down my face and my hand flies to cover my mouth in an attempt to stop myself from sobbing out loud. Theo curses under his breath again before pulling me into his arms. I continue to silently cry while he holds me and for the first time in ages, I actually feel heard. Yes, I have Tessa but I haven't seen her in a while and it's not like my mother would listen. Hell, part of me thinks she actually blames me for what happened, even though she was the one who asked me to call him in the first place. 

"I'm really sorry, Hayley" Theo mumbles, resting his chin on top of my head as I cling to him.

"It's okay" I whisper. Eventually, I pull myself back together and sit up, wiping the tears from my face. Theo's hand slides its way onto my thigh and he begins to rub slow circles with his thumb into my skin. I stare down at his hand as heat rushes through my body and settles in my core. God, I haven't felt like this since I first started dating Liam. The lust, the butterflies.

I look up and I'm instantly met by Theo's warm smile. His blue eyes roam my face before looking down at my lips and then back up to meet my gaze. Lost in his eyes, the world around us begins to disappear. My breath catches in my throat as he leans forward a fraction, his musky cologne filling my sense. Theo's eyes drop back to my lips as he licks his own and moves closer and I have never wanted anyone to kiss me more than I want Theo to kiss me right now. With his face inches from mine, my eyes flutter shut and lean toward him when suddenly the train's intercom system crackles to life, interrupting our moment.

My trapped breath comes out as a sigh as Theo rests his forehead on mine. I feel him chuckle against me as the moment is well and truly ruined. I grin and pull away to see him smiling back at me, eyes sparkling.

'Attention, passengers: we are sorry to announce that this B line service to Brighton Beach has been cancelled due to a mechanical issue. Customers for Brighton Beach and intermediate stations should check timetables and catch the next connecting service or listen for further announcements. We are sorry for any inconvenience this will cause.'

I groan and sink down further see, rubbing my hands over my face. What am I going to do now? My mother will definitely be fast asleep by the time I get to her house and she'd kill me if I showed up this late. Guess I'm going to have to go see her in the morning and just figure out something different for tonight.

"Goddammit," I mutter under my breath as I pull out my phone and begin to look up where the closest cheap hotel might be.

"You alright?" Theo asks curiously.

"Not really."

"What's up?"

"I can't stay at my mother's tonight. By the time we wait for the next train, I'll get to her place too late and she'll already be fast asleep and will rip me to shreds if I wake her up."

"I see. I take it you and her don't have the best relationship then?"

"No, no at all. Hence why my only option now is to find a hotel to stay in for the night" I reply, wiggling my phone at him. I go back to my search but continue to fall short when I see how much they are going to cost.

"Why don't you come crash at my place?" Theo blurts out after a moment.

"What?" I look up at him confused. He gives me a funny smile in return.

"I'm not trying to be a creep, I promise. But I have a spare bedroom at my apartment that you can stay in for the night. Plus, it would save you the money and then you could go see your mother in the morning"

I stare at him for a moment, pondering my options. Yes, I only met this man an hour or so ago but he has been so caring and helpful already and he's right in the fact that it would save me money.

"I mean, I guess. If you don't mind?"

"Of course not. It would be my pleasure" he replies, grinning.

Instantly, he is on his feet with my bag back on his shoulder, offering me a hand up. I giggle and take his hand and he pulls me up to a standing position before dragging me into the sea of people exiting the subway carriage.

"So where do you live?" I ask, curiously as we make our way through the subway station.

"Lincoln Centre... The Park Loggia building"

"Oh wow. Mr Fancy pants, I see" I reply, amused. 

He pulls a funny face, causing me to giggle again.

"Hey man, as a high court attorney living in New York, there's not much else I can spend my bloody money on" he grumbles, trying not to grin.

"I know, I'm just teasing" I smile. He rolls his eyes and proceeds to lead me through the turnstiles and up the stairs leading to the road.

"Still, that's quite a while away considering where we are currently." 

"I know. That's why I'm going to call us a car. It will probably be quicker than taking the subway back. However, knowing New York traffic, it could well be just as slow. I guess we'll find out"

I nod at his response as we reach the street level. The city is dark and sparkly from all the brightly light buildings while the cold air whips my face, making me stand closer to Theo as he pulls out his phone and makes a call. 

"So, my driver can't get here for another hour or so because traffic is even more shit than it normally is," he says as he turns to me with a frown whilst putting his phone away.

"Your driver?" I smirk, playfully.

"Again, a decent amount of money, not a lot to spend it on. Plus, it's easier than driving myself around the city," he replies, rolling his eyes at me.

"I know, I know."

"Anyways, have you eaten anything this evening?"

As if on cue, my stomach growls and I shake my head in response to his question, suddenly realising how hungry I actually am.

"With everything that has happened tonight, I didn't exactly have time to stop and eat. I was hoping to scab some food off my mother when I got to her place but look at how well that plan has turned out" I ramble sheepishly.

"Well, let's go get you some food then. I know a cute little place just around the corner from here that's open till two. It has really delicious sandwiches and burgers and the most amazing wings and desserts."

My stomach growls again at the thought of sitting down and eating a burger with Theo as a grin cracks onto my face.

"Come on, dork," he says, chuckling. He must've seen the stupid grin on my face at the thought of a burger because he gently slides his hand back into mine and begins to lead me down the road. 

"You know, despite everything that has happened to me tonight, I'm actually really enjoying myself. I don't think I realised how controlling my boyfriend, well, the ex-boyfriend was until I accidentally got into your cab" I comment with mild giddiness.

Theo smirks, glancing over at me as he begins to swing our arms in time with our walking.

"Well it's a good thing it's not over yet then, is it" he replies, his smile holding that promise.

__________________________

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hey Guys,

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please feel free to leave me your feedback as I always appreciate it. Also, if anyone reading this is from New York City, please pm me as I would love to have a conversation about life in NYC as I'm from New Zealand and so writing a book based on a place I have never been to before can be quite challenging. I've done loads of my own personal research, however, talking to a local would be even better as it would help to improve my story.

As always, if you would like to follow me on social media, my Instagram handle is allamy_duffell.

I hope you all are well and having a good day wherever you are in the world and I will see you all in the next chapter!

Love,

Allamy xx