Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

"What can you do in ten minutes?" The girl asked.

Corley's face was expressionless as he said, "Ever heard how curiosity killed the cat?"

"Sorry."

"Once the money's in your pocket, keep your mouth shut." Corley threatened.

After getting home and showering, Roseanne planned to review a few papers before hitting the sack.

Just as she sat down, she received a message from Corley.

[You left your gloves in my car.]

He attached a photo of the gloves. They were indeed the ones Roseanne wore that day.

It then dawned on Roseanne that she had taken them off after getting into the car because the heating was high. Corley had kindly taken them from her and set them aside.

She had forgotten them when she left.

[Can I drop by to pick them up sometime?]

house has a strict

I'll return your gloves. I'm taking an MBA course at Kingswell University. Since you're an alum, if it's not too much trouble, maybe you could show me around and help me get

yet. But with him asking for a favor, and considering she had forgotten her gloves, making it her oversight, she felt

[I'm free next Friday at 11

no objections and sent an OK

...

day they had agreed, Corley parked his car and walked to

coffee shop was on a quaint street not

a knack for decoration that appealed to the younger crowd, making it popular even on

few minutes later, and a waitress came to them with the menus as they

vintage record player

a soothing, foreign song, exuding a bohemian charm. Corley ordered an iced Americano

the

to take them.

coffee beans, the ambiance neither too cold nor too dry, utterly comfortable. "Do you

window, lay a river, completely frozen over in the dead of winter. Bare

its

in a

snow from