that morning, even with the sunli

s just the early meeting nerves-

g with that same focused intensity I remembered,

fessional. But professionalism tends to crumble in t

tled me. I turned to see hi

you too. No judgm

earing my fingers. "Thanks," I murmured

wasn't about to say anything stupid

not to touch mine, and opened his

s, deadlines, client personas-but the old rhythm lin

adn't stepped on each other's toes

ly glanced at the subject line before my stomach droppe

up from his screen, eyebrow r

oo quickly. "Jus

knowing smile. "Sti

heat up. "I am

ing back in his chair, eyes ste

, the client's campaign-disappeared from my mind.

us. I grabbed my salad and sat at the far end of the caf

join you?

," I said, motioning

grown just enough to curl at the nape of his neck, how the laugh lines ar

ou left," I said suddenly

thought it was the right thing to do at the time," he said final

tween the words, trying to feel an

erceptibly. "Now... I don'

fading into white noise. Time slowed, the pause stretching between us,

fascinating how many ways lettuce could be dressed withou

cautious, like he was testing the

ight argument I'd replayed in my head, every unspoken word that got lost between u

. "Sometimes. But I don't know if it's the

nk about that too," he admitted. "About what we had, wh

hat would bridge the two-year gap. But

y. It was... heavy, weighted with the things we weren't saying. Th

lmost teasing smile. "Remember that time you

ind me. That was a di

s chair, eyes glinting with memory. "I hated that I

e tension. Enough for him to notice. His smile softened, just a frac

t work. The spell broke. I glanced at the screen-anoth

et back," I sa

anding and gathering

gap between us was both literal and invisi

passed, but nothing had really changed. And suddenl

nd client reports, determined to ignore Evan's presence

The client just called-there's been a... mix-up with their lau

top, eyes sharp and focused. Without thinking, I blurted, "We should

n't protest. "Agreed. Let's

. Paperwork scattered, designs misaligned, and a nervous assistan

istake, but from having him by my side again

divide and conquer. I'll handle the conten

sound of it made something flutter in my chest-

ne calls, and hurried revisions. Somehow, in

g-it was a spark reminding me why I

of papers to point out a detail, a

cond, then back to the papers. Nothing more, but that

e had emptied. The quiet was almost surreal after the frantic pace of the day. E

nt, he looked at me in a way that made me forget ho

ly neutral. "Yeah

apart hadn't erased the connection. If anything, it had sharpened