Entering the vast, glistening building, my heart leaps at the flurry of excitement in my stomach at the mere thought of encountering Cesare again. It's frustrating because I believed I had this overwhelming attraction under control. There were times when I managed to go an entire day without his image clouding my mind. After all, this was nothing but a silly infatuation, one that should dissipate soon.

This infatuation might merely stem from the fact that Cesare was one of the few men who didn't recoil in horror when near my plus-size figure. Most men I crossed paths with either acted as if my weight and I were repulsive, or...