Starlit Hearts

The layoff landed on the day Stella Holt was to be made permanent. She met Casey Lewis by chance in the middle of it. He put her name forward and she got into Maxwell, a consulting firm at the top of the field. She held on there and went from beginner to business analyst running her own work. Their jobs kept overlapping and the two of them ended up together. Behind Casey's composure sat a fear of being in love and no way of saying what he felt. Stella was patient about it and made room for him, and he started putting the cold front down. He eased off, took his own faults as they came, and worked out how to say what he felt.