Hakim was a little disappointed to wake up without Lauren beside him, and even more so to find that she had already left the house. But her note made him smile. She’d written that she wanted to talk with him later, and that meant she was open to finding a way to be together.

Or at least that’s what Hakim hoped she meant. Being with her—being as close to her as he could get—had meant more than he could have imagined. They fit together. Going to sleep with her in his arms had been unimaginably sweet, all the more so this time because of what had preceded it.

He knew that they still had issues to deal with. Patricia wasn’t going to be happy about the two of them dating, but if Lauren was willing to risk her mother’s wrath, he would do whatever it took to support her.

Zeus met him downstairs, tail wagging, and Hakim remembered how happy the dog had been to see Lauren. He knelt down to pet him and said, “You and me both, pal.”

The dog barked once in agreement and Hakim laughed. He got food and water for Zeus and then coffee and breakfast for himself, half hoping that Lauren would come back before she went into the office, all while inherently understanding her need to be there in the wake of an almost-crisis.

He arrived early at work himself, surprising a few of the people who were normally first in. He smiled and chatted around the kitchen’s coffee pot, and wondered if maybe he shouldn’t spend more time out of his office talking to his employees.

The day was busy as usual, but time seemed to drag. Hakim finally figured out that it was because he was checking his clock every five minutes waiting for Lauren to call. By the end of the day, she still hadn’t called, so he sent her a text.

Hey there. Everything okay? Want to have dinner tonight?

He paced his office until his phone chimed with a response:

Bad day. Well, not the beginning of the day. But everything after that has been pretty bad.

Hakim texted her back right away, hoping that it was something else with work that was the problem:

I’m sorry. What do you need? What can I do?

There was a delay before Lauren sent her next text and Hakim began to worry for real.

Patricia knows.

And there it was, thought Hakim. His phone chimed again.

She learned about the auction. As crazy as it sounds, she was having me followed. “For my own good.”

Hakim was stunned. Following her own daughter without her knowledge was a step too far, even for Patricia. Before he could send a message back to Lauren, his phone chimed with another text.

She refuses to stop, unless I don’t see you anymore.

Hakim turned cold and quickly typed: She can’t do that.

Lauren’s reply was immediate: I don’t see how I can stop her. I can’t sneak around; I’m 28 years old, for goodness’ sake. And I can’t call the police; she’s my mom. I don’t see what else we can do.

Needing to get through to her, Hakim typed as quickly as he could: It’s not the best option, but if it’s only being followed around, there are worse things. I can handle it if you can.

Lauren, however, didn’t seem convinced: And what if she decides to do more than just have me followed? What if she orders someone to intervene, to keep me from seeing you?

Hakim ran a frustrated hand through his hair. It sounded like they were in some medieval story, with vengeful parents and star-crossed lovers. Lauren was typing again:

She’s never going to end this stupid feud, and I don’t want you or your company to suffer.

Lauren was right, he knew. They were out of options. This time it was Hakim that hesitated before sending a message back. He knew where the conversation was going. He couldn’t help but sound a bit bitter as he typed.

So, last night was it after all.

There was another pause before her response, but Hakim knew what she was writing before she even sent it.

I can’t.

Goodbye, Hakim.

And that was it. Hakim felt a soul-crushing sense of loss. For such a short time, he’d held joyful bliss in his hands and now it was gone.

He stumbled out of the office, and found himself sitting in his car in front of his house without any memory of how he got there. When he entered the house, Zeus seemed to sense how despondent his owner was. Instead of jumping up on Hakim, the dog pushed his nose against Hakim’s hand and leaned against his legs. Hakim sat on the floor next to Zeus, who laid his head in Hakim’s lap.

“I don’t know, Zeus. I thought we were going to be able to make this work.”

The dog’s tail thumped once against the floor and Hakim nodded. “I know, buddy. We liked her.”

Hakim thought about that for a minute. “No, we like her. That hasn’t changed. We like her a lot, and we know she likes us. So, we shouldn’t just give up, right?”

The dog’s tail thumped again and Hakim silently laughed at himself for needing his dog to convince him of what he should have known in the first place.

Hakim found his phone and made a call. He was going to need a little bit of help with this one.