"Mmh..." Phoebe murmured, absentmindedly rotating the warm ceramic cup between her fingers. Her gaze lingered on the delicate ripples spreading across the surface of the coffee, watching them dissolve one after another before finally lifting to the man seated across from her.
For a fleeting moment, she seemed to disappear inside her own thoughts, silently debating whether the question lingering in her mind was worth asking at all. The hesitation was subtle, almost imperceptible, but it was there.
"I still want to ask you one last thing."
The man regarded her with the same quiet patience he always seemed to possess. He didn't interrupt her silence or rush her into speaking. Instead, he simply allowed the peaceful atmosphere of the garden to settle naturally between them, as though he had nowhere else he needed to be.
"Go ahead."
