**Chapter 1: The Bracelet and the Empty Gate**

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She woke with the sunlight dancing on her wrist. The silver bracelet — delicate, almost fragile — lay there as proof. She flexed her fingers, tracing the tiny clasp where Connor had engraved his favourite constellation.

For a moment, Jess thought she might be dreaming. Two hours ago, she’d sat at Gate 42C, debating a gift for her younger sister. She had almost chosen the silver cuff. Then Connor, with those startling green eyes and a quiet confidence suited more to covert operations than airport shopping, had advised her to go for the bracelet instead.

They’d spent the next two hours locked in conversation — sharing anecdotes of family, travel misadventures, and their dreams beyond these terminal walls. Jess could hardly believe how easy it had been. He had told her his name, and she had felt it settle in her mind as if they’d known each other for years. Until at last, his flight had been called.

“Don’t forget to wear it,” Connor had said, slipping the bracelet around Jess’s wrist. The metal was cool against her skin, its gently curved links perfectly matched to her pulse. “I’ll come back for it.”

He’d smiled, that half-amused look of a man who’d seen more than most. Then he’d turned and followed the boarding line. Jess had let the boarding announcement echo in her ears, half thankful she’d arrived early, half aghast that she’d waited too late. Within moments, the gate was full, and he was gone.

She pressed her palm to the metal links, a childish hope snaking through her chest. He would return. He had promised.

**Chapter 2: Reflections in Security’s Shadow**

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The security checkpoint pulled her back. She remembered the stern-faced officer clicking away as she placed her laptop and liquids into the plastic tray. She remembered tossing off her shoes and belt. She remembered her heart catching every time someone brushed past her.

Now, she stood outside the secure area, lost amid endless polished floors and fruitless searches. In the weeks since Connor’s departure, she’d circled the departures lounge, revisited the duty-free shops, and replayed their first conversation over and over. She distracted herself with coffee stands, attempted to buy the identical bracelet he’d given her, and braved a flight of her own — but nothing soothed the ache of waiting.

At first, she’d tried calling him. No answer. She’d emailed and texted, hoping to find a trace of that secret-mission humour he’d teased her with. All her messages returned undelivered.

She realised only then how little she truly knew of his life. He’d claimed it was “too classified” to even exchange social handles. His eyes had flashed with an intensity that drew her in, but now he was a man with no address, no reachable telephone line, an enigma that could vanish again in an airport bustle.

**Chapter 3: Letters on Hold**

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So Jess did what any hopeless romantic with two hours of chemistry would do. She turned to pen and paper.

With trembling hand, she filled page after page in a small green notebook she kept tucked in her bag. She wrote about the way the terminal curved overhead like a wave of polished concrete, but how his green eyes had felt like violent storms of safety. She wrote about her sister’s gift-search conundrum, how it paled beside the gift he had given her: hope.

By the third letter, she was angry and hurt. She decried his rudeness, his secret-mission secrecy. She insisted he send her something — even a telegram would do — just a hint that he was alive and well. She folded the pages carefully. If she couldn’t mail them, she could stash them where only she would find them: pressed between her passport and boarding passes.

**Chapter 4: The Unexpected Text**

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It arrived two mornings later, in the silence of her hotel room while she was on business.

_No image available_ _from unknown number:_

Connor: I’m sorry I missed you. Ended up in Kabul, then Islamabad. Major headache. Be back in three days. Don’t forget to pack your passport.

Her breath caught. Kabul? Islamabad? He’d flown halfway around the world without a single forwarded message? She scrolled further.

Connor: I left enough hints to prove I wasn’t ghosting. Check the bracelet. It holds the code.

Jess stared at the glittering motif on each link, then touched the clasp where tiny burrs formed letters — a cipher she had never noticed before. Love you, X.

She cracked a smile. The man truly was a covert operator. He had trusted her with the key to find him again. In three days, she would know his world beyond the airport terminal.

**Chapter 5: Three Days Later**

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Jess arrived at 5 am. The crimson-glowing walls of the terminal gave her visions of a futuristic bunker. Security clearance badges gleamed at the checkpoint. She swallowed her panic. She had the code.

At Gate G17, she whispered the letters to the keypad on a locked door. The panels slid open with a hiss, revealing a stark corridor. A single dim light set a long arm into her path — the model of a stealth drone hung pendulously above a control console. She followed the corridor deeper, walls humming with electronics and flowing data cables.

At the end, she found him: Connor stood tall, leather jacket unzipped, hair mussed from high altitude wind tunnels. His green eyes widened until he recognised her.

“I thought you’d forgotten,” he said, voice rough.

“I’m not the forgetful type,” she replied, dropping her carry-on. She ran to him.

**Chapter 6: Declassified Confessions**

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He caught her against the cold metal wall, pulling her hand to the bracelet.

“It’s a code, like I said.” He traced one link. “This is my commute code.” She blinked.

“Commute?”

He laughed softly, a sound of pure relief. “A ruse. I couldn’t risk you knowing how real things get.”

She pressed her forehead to his chest. “How real?”

Suddenly, floodlight beams cut across his face. Through the frosted glass doors, shadowy figures rushed the hallway.

“Five minutes to de-brief,” Connor said, eyes distant but gentle. “Get you to safety. Bring you home.”

He brushed a lock of hair from her face. “But first,” he said, voice low and firm, “I want you to know who I am.”

**Chapter 7: The Final Boarding Call**

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The agents at the door recognised Connor immediately. Woman and
man in matte black suits, shoulder-mag rigs strapped firmly.

“Agent Mallory,” said an operative, nodding at Jess. “ID?”

Connor stood. “She’s assets.” He turned back to her. “Tiffy.”

Jess gave her name, heart pounding.

They ushered her into a white shuttle with tinted windows. 30 seconds later, she was speeding away from the secretive terminal and toward a returning flight. Before the doors slid shut, Connor stood in the doorway, hand raised in farewell.

Jess pressed her palm against the window. The bracelet gleamed in the dawn’s first rays. Beside her, the agent reclined in the front seat, flipping through her files.

“I’d welcome a retelling,” said Jess. “But for now—”

The doors slid shut, and the shuttle rolled forward. Departure boards flashed overhead: Destinations to London, Dubai, Singapore.

Jess whispered to the silver links on her wrist, “I’ll be back.”

And for the first time in her life, she believed it with every fibre of her being.