We Will Love Again – Episode 41
The offer on Alaina’s phone transformed one dinner into a question about six months apart. Noah read her expression before she explained, and the instinct to search for a solution rose immediately.
“Where?” he asked.
“San Francisco. Production starts next week.” Alaina had spent years waiting for work that carried her name. The opportunity was everything she claimed to want.
Noah looked toward the hospital room where Nora slept. “Are you going?”
Alaina expected persuasion in either direction. Instead, he left the choice with her.
“I think I have to.” Her answer held excitement beneath the fear. “If I say no because we might try again, I’ll repeat the same mistake.”
“Choosing your future isn’t leaving me.” Noah spoke carefully, aware of how the old wound distorted every departure.
Relief moved through her. Five years earlier, both had treated love and ambition as competing demands. Neither wanted to rebuild on the same false choice.
“What about dinner?” she asked.
“You leave next week, not tonight.” His smile was cautious. “One dinner still sounds possible.”
They chose the following evening. No private club, driver, or expensive display would turn the meeting into a demonstration of what Noah had become.
Alaina returned home and accepted the production offer. The confirmation email made her new life suddenly real.
Sophie celebrated, then asked the question Alaina avoided. “Can you and Noah survive distance after barely surviving the same city?”
“We aren’t together.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Alaina packed notebooks into a suitcase. She wanted Noah, but desire alone had once convinced them that honesty could wait.
At Triple AI, Aaron congratulated Noah on not attempting to purchase a San Francisco production company overnight.
“The thought never crossed my mind,” Noah lied.
Aaron laughed, but a board notice interrupted them. Noah’s reinstatement required him to lead a six-month expansion from Los Angeles with no extended travel.
He stared at the dates. Alaina’s opportunity and his obligation matched almost exactly, ensuring their second chance would begin hundreds of miles apart.