His name on the screen still startled me sometimes, because it didn’t fit the quiet way our relationship had begun. We’d met at a diplomatic reception where I’d gone for work and he’d gone because his name made attendance mandatory. I’d been standing near a table of cheese cubes and toothpicks, debating whether leaving early would look unprofessional, when he’d drifted beside me like someone who didn’t want to be recognized.
“Are you also pretending you’re fascinated by this conversation about trade tariffs?” he’d asked, eyes on the crowd, smile barely there.
I’d laughed, and the laugh had surprised me too. It was real. That’s what he’d noticed first—realness. He’d asked what I did, and when I answered, he’d asked follow-up questions. Genuine ones. Like my thoughts mattered.
Dating Daniel Chin meant accepting that there were details I couldn’t control. He was kind and funny and stubborn in the best ways, but he came with an orbit—agents, planning, security protocols that slid into our lives like weather. We’d kept it quiet deliberately. Daniel wanted a relationship that wasn’t defined by his father’s job. I wanted someone who saw me as more than an accessory.
“Hey,” I said.