Updated Mar 21, 2026 • ~9 min read
SUMMER – TWO YEARS AGO, THE GALLERY
The art opening is boring.
Pretentious people drinking wine. Discussing pieces they don’t understand.
I’m here for my boss. Making connections. Smiling until my face hurts.
Then I see him.
He’s standing in front of Felix’s tattoo design display. Actually looking. Actually engaged.
Dark hair. Tattoos covering both arms. Leather jacket.
He’s so out of place here it’s almost funny.
Our eyes meet.
He smiles.
My heart stops.
JAX
She’s beautiful.
Long black hair. Elegant dress. But there’s something in her eyes.
Sadness. Maybe.
Or boredom.
Felix nudges me. “Dude. That girl is staring at you.”
“I noticed.”
“Go talk to her.”
“She’s way out of my league.”
“Since when has that stopped you?”
He’s right.
I cross the room.
SUMMER
He’s walking toward me.
Oh god.
He’s walking toward me.
I don’t know what to do with my hands.
“You look miserable,” he says.
Direct. No pretense.
I laugh. “Is it that obvious?”
“Completely. I’m Jax.”
“Summer.”
His handshake is warm. Calloused.
Artist hands.
“Let me guess,” he says. “You work for the gallery?”
“Adjacent. I’m an art consultant. My boss represents some of these artists.”
“And you hate it.”
“I don’t hate it. I just… this isn’t really my scene.”
“What is your scene?”
No one’s asked me that in months.
Maybe ever.
“I don’t know anymore,” I admit.
He grins. “Want to find out?”
“What?”
“There’s a taco truck outside. Way better than these sad cheese cubes. Come on.”
He’s already walking.
I should stay. Network. Do my job.
But I follow him.
JAX
We sit on the curb. Eating tacos. Talking.
She tells me about her art history degree. How she thought she’d work in museums. Curate collections. But ended up doing rich people’s errands instead.
“Why don’t you quit?” I ask.
“And do what?”
“Something you actually care about.”
She laughs. Bitter. “My parents would kill me. They already think my degree was useless. If I quit my ‘respectable’ job to… what? Paint? They’d disown me.”
“You paint?”
“Used to. Not anymore.”
“Why not?”
“Life got in the way.”
There’s a story there.
Pain.
I want to know everything.
“What about you?” she asks. “Tattoo artist?”
“Yep. Own a shop in Brooklyn with my brother Marco.”
“You love it.”
It’s not a question.
“How do you know?”
“Your face. When you talk about it. You light up.”
No one’s ever noticed that before.
“Yeah,” I say. “I love it.”
“That must be nice.”
“What?”
“Knowing what you want. Doing it. Not caring what anyone thinks.”
“Oh, I cared. My parents were pissed when I dropped out of college to apprentice. Said I was throwing my life away.”
“What changed?”
“I realized their approval wasn’t worth my misery.”
She goes quiet.
Stares at her taco.
“I wish I was that brave,” she whispers.
“You are. You’re here, aren’t you? Eating street tacos with a tattooed stranger instead of networking with millionaires.”
She smiles. “This is way better.”
“Damn right it is.”
SUMMER
We talk until midnight.
He tells me about growing up in the Bronx. His brother. His shop. The art he creates on people’s skin.
I tell him about my family. The pressure. The expectations.
Not everything.
I don’t mention Theo. The arrangement. The engagement party looming.
I should.
But I don’t want this to end.
“Can I see you again?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“Tomorrow?”
I laugh. “Eager?”
“Completely. You’re the most interesting person I’ve met in years, Summer. I’m not letting you disappear.”
My chest aches.
Warm. Painful.
“Tomorrow,” I agree.
He walks me to the subway. Stops at the entrance.
“I’m going to kiss you now. If that’s okay.”
I nod.
He cups my face. Leans in.
The kiss is soft. Gentle. Perfect.
When he pulls back, I’m breathless.
“Tomorrow,” he says.
Then he’s gone.
I stand on the platform. Touching my lips.
Completely screwed.
SUMMER – THE NEXT DAY
Theo takes me to brunch.
Our parents are there. Discussing the engagement party.
“We’re thinking the Plaza,” his mother says. “Two hundred guests. Maybe more.”
My mother nods. “Very appropriate.”
Theo squeezes my hand under the table.
I feel nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
All I can think about is Jax. His laugh. His eyes. The way he looked at me like I mattered.
My phone buzzes.
A text from a number I don’t recognize.
It’s Jax. Felix gave me your number. Hope that’s okay. Still on for tonight?
My heart races.
“Excuse me,” I say. “Restroom.”
I lock myself in a stall. Text back.
How did you get my number?
Asked Felix who you work for. Called the gallery. They gave me your boss’s assistant’s number. She gave me yours. I’m persistent.
I laugh out loud.
That’s borderline stalking.
Is it working?
Maybe.
Tacos at 7?
Yes.
THEO
Summer’s distracted.
She’s been checking her phone all through brunch.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“Fine. Just work stuff.”
“On a Sunday?”
“Gallery emergency. It happens.”
She’s lying.
I can tell.
But I don’t push.
Summer needs space. I learned that early. Push too hard and she shuts down.
Besides, we’re not… we’re not romantic. Not yet.
We’re building something. Slow. Steady.
Love will come.
I’m sure of it.
SUMMER – THAT NIGHT
Jax takes me to a rooftop in Brooklyn.
Fairy lights. City skyline. He brings homemade tacos.
“You made these?” I’m shocked.
“Marco and I cook. Survival skill growing up.”
We eat. Talk. Laugh.
He asks about my dreams. My fears. My secrets.
I tell him almost everything.
Except the engagement.
That feels too big. Too complicated.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks.
“You.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I like you, Jax. A lot. But I need you to know—my family situation is really complicated. If we do this, if we date, it’s going to be slow. Telling them. Introducing you. All of it.”
“Because I’m not what they want for you.”
“It’s not about you. It’s about them. Their expectations.”
He studies me. “You’re scared of them.”
“Yes.”
“Summer, you’re an adult. You don’t need their permission—”
“You don’t understand. In my culture, family is everything. Dishonoring them means losing them. Forever.”
“Loving who you want isn’t dishonorable.”
“To them it is.”
He’s quiet for a long moment.
Then: “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“I’ll wait. However long it takes. I’ll wait for you to feel ready.”
Relief and guilt crash together.
“Why?” I whisper.
“Because you’re worth it.”
He kisses me.
Deeper this time.
I kiss him back.
Knowing I’m making everything worse.
Knowing I should stop.
But I can’t.
I’m falling for him.
Hard. Fast. Completely.
And it’s going to destroy everything.
SUMMER – TWO MONTHS LATER
I’m living two lives.
Weekdays: Theo. Manhattan. Engagement planning.
Weekends: Jax. Brooklyn. Freedom.
Melody is the only one who knows.
“This is insane,” she says over coffee. “You have to tell them. Both of them.”
“I know.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
“Summer—”
“I’m going to break it off with Theo. Before the engagement party. I just need to figure out how.”
“What about your parents?”
“They’ll be furious. But they’ll get over it.”
It’s a lie.
They won’t get over it.
But I can’t marry Theo. Not when I’m in love with Jax.
“You need to tell Jax too,” Melody says. “About the arrangement. About Theo.”
“I will. After I end things.”
“That’s not fair to him.”
“I know.”
But I’m a coward.
So I keep lying.
JAX – THREE MONTHS IN
I’m falling in love with her.
With Summer. Her laugh. Her passion. The way she sees the world.
But something’s off.
She disappears Monday through Friday. Says she’s busy with work. Family obligations.
She never invites me to her place. Always comes to mine.
She won’t add me on social media. Says her parents monitor her accounts.
Marco thinks she’s hiding me.
“She’s embarrassed of you,” he says.
“She’s not. Her family’s traditional. It’s different.”
“Different how?”
“I don’t know. But I trust her.”
Do I though?
Or am I ignoring the red flags because I’m already in too deep?
SUMMER – THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY
I’m going to tell Theo tonight.
Before the party. Before the announcement.
I’m going to end this.
But then his mother pulls me aside.
Shows me the ring. Five carats. Family heirloom.
“He’s going to propose tonight,” she whispers. “In front of everyone. Isn’t it romantic?”
My blood runs cold.
“Tonight?”
“Yes! Oh, Summer, you’ve made him so happy. After Blake, we thought he’d never trust again. But you… you’re perfect.”
Guilt crushes me.
I can’t do it.
I can’t humiliate him in front of two hundred people.
I’ll tell him after. Privately. Kindly.
But then he gets down on one knee.
And everyone’s watching.
And I can’t breathe.
“Summer Chen,” he says. “Will you marry me?”
I should say no.
I should tell the truth.
But my mother’s crying. His mother’s crying. Everyone’s applauding.
“Yes,” I whisper.
The ring slides on.
The trap closes.
And my double life becomes permanent.
SUMMER – PRESENT DAY
That was a year ago.
I told myself I’d figure it out. Find a way to fix this.
But I didn’t.
I just kept lying.
To Theo. To Jax. To myself.
And now I’m three months from a wedding I don’t want.
Dating a man I love who doesn’t know I’m engaged.
Living two lives.
Knowing it can’t last.
Knowing it’s all going to explode.
But unable to stop it.
Because I’m terrified.
Of losing Jax. Of disappointing my parents. Of humiliating Theo.
So I do nothing.
And hope that somehow, impossibly, I can keep both worlds spinning.
Until they collide.
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