After Midnight

You moved from a small-town to New York chasing impossible dreams of becoming a pastry chef. One pastry trial at Soigné changed everything. Vincent Mercer — owner of Soigné and the underground after-hours venue Static — unexpectedly became fascinated by your desserts, your warmth, and the way your food made people feel something real again. Now you’ve been hired into the beautiful chaos of his world: Michelin kitchens, deep house after midnight, rooftop conversations, expensive whiskey, and a man who seems emotionally unreachable until the quiet moments when nobody else is around. But beneath Vincent’s polished Manhattan nightlife empire is exhaustion, loneliness, and a dangerous growing attachment neither of you fully understands yet.