CHAPTER 2 The Man Who Came Back
1183 Words
POV: Elena Maren
I woke up the next morning with a name already waiting inside my head.
Alexander Vale.
I stared at the ceiling for several seconds, hoping that if I stayed still long enough, the thought would disappear.
It didn't.
I turned toward my bedside table and reached for my phone.
There were several notifications waiting for me, but none of them were from him.
I almost laughed at myself.
Why would there be?
He hadn't contacted me in 7 years.
There was no reason for that to suddenly change.
I placed my phone back down.
“Get a grip, Elena.”
I got out of bed.
Today was supposed to be about work.
That was what I needed to remember.
I had spent years building Lumen & Co. into something I was proud of. I had clients who trusted me, a team that depended on me, and plans for the future that had nothing to do with Alexander.
I wasn't going to allow one email to change that.
At least, that was the plan.
By 8:30 AM, I was already at the office.
Mia was waiting for me in the conference room with several folders spread across the table.
“You're early,” she said.
“So are you.”
“I've been here since 8:00.”
I put my coffee down.
“Why?”
“Because unlike you, I understand that coffee isn't breakfast.”
I smiled.
“You're still on that?”
“Yes.”
She pushed a folder toward me.
“Crescent Hotel.”
I opened it.
The proposal was thick.
Too thick.
I looked through the pages while trying to ignore the name printed on the executive documents.
Alexander Vale.
The more I saw it, the stranger it felt.
“You're quiet,” Mia said.
“I'm reading.”
“You're thinking.”
“Those are different things.”
“Not with you.”
I closed the folder.
“We need this project.”
Mia nodded.
“I know.”
“It could be one of the biggest contracts we've had.”
“I know that too.”
“Then that's what matters.”
Mia studied me.
“And Alex?”
I looked at her.
“He's part of the client team.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
I took a breath.
“I don't know what you want me to say.”
“The truth.”
I looked down at the folder.
“The truth is that I don't know how I feel about seeing him again.”
Mia didn't make a joke.
That was how I knew she understood.
“I thought I was over it,” I admitted.
“Maybe you are.”
“Then why does his name still bother me?”
“Because being over someone doesn't mean they become a stranger.”
I didn't answer.
Maybe she was right.
Maybe the past didn't disappear.
Maybe we simply learned how to live around it.
The official confirmation arrived just before lunch.
The email was short.
Our company had been selected as one of the creative partners for the Crescent Hotel redevelopment.
I read it twice.
Then a third time.
We had done it.
I should have felt nothing but excitement.
Instead, my eyes went straight to the final section.
Executive Representative: Alexander Vale
I closed my eyes.
“Of course.”
Mia leaned over my desk.
“You okay?”
“We got the project.”
“That sounds like a good thing.”
“It is.”
“But?”
I opened my eyes.
“The first executive meeting is tomorrow.”
She understood immediately.
“Oh.”
“Exactly.”
She sat down across from me.
“You can do this.”
“I know.”
“You don't have to talk about the past.”
“I won't.”
“You don't have to ask why he left.”
“I won't.”
“You don't have to prove anything.”
I looked at her.
“I know.”
She smiled.
“Good.”
I returned to my computer.
I needed to prepare.
If Alexander was going to sit across from me as a client, then that was how I would treat him.
As a client.
Nothing more.
That afternoon, Mia and I visited the Crescent Hotel.
The property was impressive.
It stood near the water, surrounded by wide streets and modern buildings. Its architecture was elegant without looking outdated.
I walked through the lobby, taking notes.
“The reception area needs warmer lighting,” I said.
Mia looked around.
“I agree.”
“The seating should be more flexible.”
“Write that down.”
I smiled.
“I already did.”
We continued through the hotel.
The event hall caught my attention immediately.
I stopped near the entrance.
“This.”
Mia looked at me.
“What?”
“This could be beautiful.”
She smiled.
“I knew you'd say that.”
I walked inside.
The room was enormous.
Tall windows.
High ceilings.
Enough space to create something memorable.
I pulled out my notebook.
“What if we avoid making it too formal?”
Mia raised an eyebrow.
“It's a luxury hotel.”
“Exactly. Everyone expects luxury to mean cold and formal.”
I began sketching.
“I want something elegant but warm.”
She watched me.
“You're already designing.”
“That's why they hired us.”
I smiled.
For the first time that day, I forgot about Alex.
This was what I loved.
Creating.
Imagining.
Turning empty spaces into places where people could make memories.
I took photographs and wrote notes.
Then I caught myself wondering whether Alex would like the design.
I immediately stopped.
Why did I care?
I didn't.
I couldn't.
That evening, I returned home exhausted.
I changed into comfortable clothes and sat beside the window.
Bellhaven looked beautiful at night.
Lights reflected against the water.
Cars moved along the streets.
People were going somewhere.
Living their lives.
I wondered where Alex had been all these years.
I hadn't allowed myself to wonder that question in a long time.
Now it wouldn't leave me alone.
What had he become?
Was he still the same person?
Did he remember me?
Did he ever think about what happened?
I frowned.
“No.”
I wasn't doing this.
I had no reason to know the answers.
Tomorrow was a business meeting.
I would walk into that room as Elena Maren, creative director of Lumen & Co.
Not the girl who had once loved him.
Not the girl who had waited.
Not the girl who had been left behind.
I opened my laptop.
The meeting details were already there.
2:00 PM.
I read the name again.
Alexander Vale.
Then I closed the computer.
For 7 years, I had built a life without him.
Tomorrow, I would find out whether seeing him again would change anything.
I hoped it wouldn't.
But somewhere beneath that hope was a feeling I didn't want to acknowledge.
I was afraid it might.
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