~ Ava ~
I stared at him, waiting for the punchline. Waiting for him to laugh and tell me this was some kind of joke, that he was messing with me, that any of this made sense.
He didn't laugh.
"You tracked me down," I said slowly. "Using security footage."
"Yes."
"And you found out I was hired here."
"Yes."
"And instead of doing the normal, professional thing and making sure we never had to see each other again, you just... let it happen."
"That's correct."
My hands were shaking. I pressed them flat against my thighs to hide it.
"That's insane," I said. "You realize that's insane, right? You don't even know me. We spent one night together. One night, and you decided to, what, stalk me?"
Something shifted in his expression. Not anger, more like amusement, which made me want to slap him.
"I wouldn't call it stalking," he said. "I'd call it curiosity."
"I'd call it a lawsuit waiting to happen."
He laughed, low and quiet, and the sound sent a shiver down my spine that I absolutely refused to acknowledge.
"You're welcome to file one," he said. "But I don't think you will."
"Oh really? And why is that?"
He tilted his head, studying me like I was something fascinating under a microscope. "Because you're not afraid of me. You're angry, and you're confused, but you're not afraid. If you were, you would have walked out of this room the second I said your name."
I opened my mouth to argue, but nothing came out.
He was right. I wasn't afraid of him. I should have been. He was a billionaire CEO who had just admitted to tracking me down after a one-night stand. Normal people would be terrified. Normal people would be calling HR or the police or both.
But I wasn't scared. I was furious.
"What do you want from me?" I asked. "Because if you think I'm going to sleep with you again just because you sign my paychecks, you're out of your mind."
"I don't want you to sleep with me because I sign your paychecks." He took a step closer, and I forced myself not to move back. "I want you to sleep with me because you want to."
"I don't."
"Liar."
The word hung in the air between us. My face was burning. My whole body felt like it was on fire, and I hated him for it. I hated the way he looked at me like he could see right through every wall I had built up. I hated that some part of me, some stupid, reckless, self-destructive part of me, was tempted to close the distance between us and find out if he kissed the same way I remembered.
I took a step back.
"This conversation is over," I said. "I'm here to do a job. That's it. Whatever happened between us before doesn't matter anymore. I'm your employee now, and that's all I'm going to be."
He didn't try to stop me as I walked toward the door. But right before I reached it, his voice stopped me.
"Ava."
I turned around. He was standing exactly where I had left him, his hands in his pockets, looking completely unbothered by everything I had just said.
"You've been assigned to the Harrison account," he said. "It's one of our biggest campaigns this quarter. High profile, high stakes. The kind of project that can make or break a career."
I waited, not sure where this was going.
"I'm personally overseeing it," he continued. "Which means we'll be working closely together for the next few months. Very closely."
My stomach dropped.
"You did that on purpose."
"I'm the CEO. I can assign anyone I want to any project I want." He smiled, slow and infuriating. "See you at the team meeting tomorrow, Ava."
I walked out of the room before I could say something I would regret.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. Someone from HR showed me to my desk on the twenty-second floor, a small cubicle in a sea of identical cubicles. My computer was already set up, my email already flooded with welcome messages and orientation materials and invitations to meetings I didn't understand yet.
I tried to focus. I read through the company handbook. I smiled at the people who came by to introduce themselves. I nodded along when my direct supervisor, a woman named Heather with sharp eyes and a sharper handshake, explained what would be expected of me.
But the whole time, my mind kept drifting back to him.
He had tracked me down. He had found my name, looked me up, and discovered I was going to be working at his company. And instead of doing the decent thing and staying away, he had made sure we would be thrown together on the biggest project of my new career.
What kind of person does that?
The kind of person who always gets what he wants, apparently.
Around noon, a woman appeared at my cubicle with a coffee cup in each hand and a friendly smile on her face.
"You look like you're about to pass out," she said. "First day jitters?"
"Something like that."
She handed me one of the cups. "I'm Becca. Junior account manager. I sit three cubicles down, and I figured you could use some caffeine and maybe a friendly face."
I took the coffee gratefully. "Ava. And thank you. I really needed this."
Becca dropped into the empty chair next to my desk and made herself comfortable. She was around my age, maybe a year or two older, with dark hair pulled back in a messy bun and the kind of easy confidence that made me feel slightly less like an imposter.
"So," she said, "I heard you got pulled aside by Ethan Cole himself after orientation. What was that about?"
My heart skipped. "How did you hear that?"
"This place is basically a fishbowl. Everyone sees everything." She raised an eyebrow. "So? What did he want?"
I forced myself to sound casual. "He just had some questions about my previous work. Portfolio stuff."
Becca looked skeptical, but she didn't push. "Huh. That's weird. He doesn't usually bother with new hires. You must have made an impression."
If only she knew.
"Anyway," Becca continued, "word of advice? The Harrison account is a big deal. Like, a really big deal. If you're going to be on that team, you need to bring your A-game. Ethan Cole does not tolerate mediocrity."
"You know about the Harrison account?"
"Everyone knows about the Harrison account. It's all anyone's been talking about for weeks. Huge client, huge budget, huge pressure." She took a sip of her coffee. "And rumor has it Ethan is personally overseeing it, which almost never happens. He must really care about this one."
Or he just wants to make my life impossible, I thought.
"Great," I said out loud. "No pressure."
Becca laughed. "You'll be fine. Just don't let him get in your head. He's intense, but he respects people who push back. The worst thing you can do is act scared of him."
Too late for that.
After Becca left, I spent the rest of the afternoon going through the Harrison account materials that had been sent to my email. It was a major client, a luxury hotel chain looking to rebrand their entire image. The scope of the project was massive, the kind of campaign that would take months to develop and execute.
And Ethan Cole would be in every meeting. Watching me. Waiting to see what I would do.
By the time five o'clock rolled around, my head was pounding and I wanted nothing more than to go home and collapse into bed.
Except I didn't have a home anymore. My apartment was still full of Daniel's things, and I hadn't been back since the night I caught them together. I had been staying at a cheap hotel near Midtown, living out of a suitcase like some kind of refugee from my own life.
I needed to find a new place. I needed to cancel the wedding. I needed to call my mother and explain why I wasn't returning her calls. I needed to do a hundred things that felt absolutely impossible right now.
One thing at a time, I told myself. You got through today. That's enough.
I was packing up my bag when my email pinged.
New message. From Ethan Cole.
My finger hovered over the notification for a long moment before I clicked it open.
Team meeting for Harrison account moved to 8 AM tomorrow. My office. Looking forward to working with you.
— E.C.
I stared at the screen.
His office. Not a conference room, not a shared space. His office.
This man had no shame. None at all.
I closed the laptop harder than necessary and shoved it into my bag. Fine. If he wanted to play this game, I would play it. I would show up to his stupid meeting and be the most professional, competent, untouchable employee he had ever seen. I would give him absolutely no reason to think I was affected by any of this.
And then, eventually, he would get bored and move on to whatever other power trip he wanted to pursue.
At least, that was the plan.
I was almost to the elevator when my phone buzzed. I pulled it out, expecting another email, and froze when I saw the name on the screen.
Daniel.
Ava, please. We need to talk. I know you're angry but you can't just ignore me forever. I love you. What happened was a mistake and I want to fix this. Please call me.
I read the message three times.
Then I deleted it and shoved my phone back in my pocket.
Some things couldn't be fixed. Some mistakes were too big to come back from. Daniel had made his choice when he climbed into bed with Jessica, and now he had to live with the consequences.
Just like I had to live with the consequences of my own stupid decisions.
The elevator doors opened. I stepped inside and hit the button for the lobby, leaning back against the wall and closing my eyes.
Tomorrow I would face Ethan in his office and pretend that nothing between us had ever happened.
Tonight, I just needed to survive.