Echoes of the Past

Sophie hadn't planned to open up to Eli that night. It had just… happened. The words had spilled out before she could stop them, and now, she found herself thinking about them about Eli, about her own past, and the parts of her life she kept hidden from everyone else.

As she walked home from the gallery, Sophie's mind drifted to a time when she had been just as lost as Eli seemed now. She had never told anyone the full story, not even Max, though he'd always suspected there was more to her than the sharp-edged persona she presented to the world. Sophie liked to keep it that way guarded, controlled, untouchable. But there had been a time when that wasn't true. A time when Sophie had been just as vulnerable, just as scared of failing as Eli was now.

It had all started with a choice.

---

Seven years earlier, Sophie stood in front of her family's sprawling estate, the weight of expectation pressing down on her like a vice. Her father's voice echoed in her ears, stern and unyielding.

"You have a duty to this family, Sophie. Don't forget that."

She had been fresh out of university, newly armed with a degree in business that her parents had practically forced on her. Sophie had wanted to pursue art, just like Eli. She had dreamed of traveling the world, creating, experiencing life outside the rigid walls of her family's expectations. But that dream had died the moment her father had laid out the future he expected her to embrace working for the family business, climbing the corporate ladder, playing the role of the perfect daughter.

Sophie had never felt more trapped in her life.

Her family's wealth and influence were suffocating, their expectations like chains around her neck. No one saw her for who she really was, and no one cared. All that mattered was that she lived up to the Bellamy name, that she carried on the legacy her father had built from the ground up.

The problem was, Sophie didn't want any of it.

But she hadn't said that. She had nodded, smiled, and agreed to everything, too afraid to speak her truth. Too afraid of what would happen if she stepped outside the lines they had drawn for her.

That's when she met her Emily.

Emily had been everything Sophie wasn't. Carefree, rebellious, wild in a way that made Sophie's pulse race the moment they locked eyes at a gallery opening one evening. Sophie had been there on behalf of her father's company, representing the Bellamy name, playing the part of the poised, perfect daughter. But the moment she saw Emily, everything changed.

Emily was an artist, a sculptor whose hands were always stained with clay, whose smile was wide and unapologetic. She was the kind of person who seemed to live without fear, without hesitation, and Sophie had been drawn to her like a moth to a flame. Emily had seen through the mask Sophie wore, had called her out on it within minutes of their first conversation.

"You don't really want to be here, do you?" Emily had asked, her voice teasing but her eyes serious.

Sophie had been taken aback, but she couldn't deny the truth in Emily's words. She didn't want to be there. She didn't want any of it. And for the first time, someone had seen that had seen her.

They had started spending more time together, meeting in secret, away from Sophie's family, away from the suffocating world of business and expectations. With Emily, Sophie had felt free in a way she never had before. She had laughed, she had created, she had let herself feel without fear of judgment. And for a brief, beautiful time, Sophie had allowed herself to believe that she could have a different kind of life.

Emily had been the one to push Sophie to pursue her art, to take risks, to step outside the carefully constructed world her family had built for her.

"You don't owe them anything, Soph," Emily had said one night as they lay on the floor of Emily's studio, surrounded by half-finished sculptures and sketches. "You get to decide what your life looks like. No one else."

Sophie had wanted to believe her. She had wanted to break free, to live a life that was hers and hers alone. But the chains of her family's expectations were hard to break. And when her father found out about Emily when he found out that Sophie had been seeing her everything had come crashing down.

Her father had been furious. Not because of Emily's gender that was almost irrelevant in the circles they moved in but because Emily represented everything Sophie's father hated: chaos, unpredictability, rebellion. Emily was a threat to the future he had meticulously planned for his daughter, and he had made it clear that if Sophie didn't end things, she would lose everything.

And so, Sophie had made the hardest decision of her life.

She had walked away from Emily, from the one person who had ever made her feel like she could be something more than what her family wanted her to be. She had thrown herself into the life her father had laid out for her, burying her dreams, her desires, her heart. She had become the person they wanted her to be, the person everyone else expected her to be.

Cold. Distant. Perfect.

It was safer that way. If she didn't let anyone in, if she didn't let herself care, she couldn't get hurt again. And for a long time, it had worked. Sophie had built walls around herself so high that no one could touch her. She had become successful, powerful, respected in the business world. But the cost had been higher than she ever imagined.

Because in becoming who her family wanted her to be, Sophie had lost herself.

---

Now, as she sat in her apartment, the memories of Emily and that time in her life flooding back, Sophie felt a pang of regret so deep it nearly took her breath away. She hadn't thought about Emily in years, hadn't allowed herself to. But meeting Eli, seeing that same spark in them that Emily had once seen in her, had stirred something in Sophie she thought she had long since buried.

She saw so much of herself in Eli so much of that same struggle, that same desire to be more than what the world wanted them to be. And Sophie couldn't stand the thought of Eli making the same choices she had, of letting fear and expectations dictate their life.

That's why she cared. That's why she couldn't stay away.

Because Eli reminded her of everything she had lost. And maybe, just maybe, helping Eli find their way would help Sophie find hers too.

---

The next day, Eli woke up feeling restless, their mind still spinning from the conversation with Sophie the night before. They hadn't been able to stop thinking about her about the way her voice had softened when she told Eli not to let fear control them. There had been something in Sophie's eyes, something almost haunted, like she was speaking from experience. But Eli hadn't asked, hadn't wanted to push.

Now, though, they found themselves wanting to know more.

Who was Sophie, really? What had she been through that made her so closed off, so guarded? And why did she seem to care so much about Eli's choices?

They had never expected to feel this way about Sophie to feel this strange, magnetic pull toward her. It wasn't just attraction, though there was that too. It was something deeper, something that made Eli want to understand her, to see past the walls she had built around herself.

But getting close to Sophie was dangerous. Eli knew that. Sophie was like a storm beautiful, powerful, but unpredictable. And yet, Eli couldn't seem to stay away.

They grabbed their phone, scrolling through their contacts until they found Sophie's number. For a moment, they hesitated, their finger hovering over the screen.

Then, with a deep breath, they sent a message.

Eli: Coffee later?

It took a few minutes, but Sophie's reply came, short and to the point as always.

Sophie: Sure. 5?

Eli smiled to themselves, the tension in their chest easing slightly.

Maybe it was dangerous to get close to Sophie. Maybe it was risky to let themselves care. But for the first time in a long time, Eli was willing to take that risk.