The Way the City Looks from Here
You Thought You Knew Him. You Didn’t.
Last week we met Jason — nervous, underdressed, completely unprepared for the man waiting for him at that pizza place in Queens. This week, Hold Fast flips the camera.
Chapter 2 is Rami’s.
The SUV door closes. He’s already smiling before he realizes it. And then we’re inside his head — really inside it — and suddenly the effortlessly confident man from Chapter 1 becomes something far more interesting.
Because Rami notices everything. The way Jason didn’t flinch when he touched him. The way he let himself be looked at without looking away. The cheap earrings catching the candlelight. While Jason was busy being dazzled, Rami was paying attention in a way that says this man doesn’t impress easily — and Jason impressed him.
But Chapter 2 isn’t just warmth and whiskey at a penthouse window. There are texts to a fixer named Taylor. A chef being briefed on exactly what kind of man Jason is and what kind of dinner he deserves. A shipment from Palermo that’s late for the third time. A meeting in Tehran next week. A father with opinions Rami has no intention of entertaining.
Rami is a lot of things. And he’s just decided Jason gets all of him — carefully, deliberately, on his terms.
Tuesday can’t come fast enough.
Both chapters are available now at reamstories.com/romanhenrystories — and if you want to make sure you never miss a Thursday drop, get on the mailing list.
