Meant To Miss, Destined To Meet

Chapter 10

Gina’s POV

I had just finished brushing my teeth when my phone buzzed.

Another scam call? Another “Sorry, we’ve gone with a different candidate”? Another text from Kira asking if I was alive?

None of the above.

It was an email.

Subject: Interview Invitation – BrightEdge Agency

I blinked. Once. Twice. Then opened it.

Dear Ms. Foster,

We reviewed your application and would love to invite you for an in-person interview for the role of Junior Marketing Associate.

Date: Tomorrow

Time: 11:00 a.m.

Location: BrightEdge HQ, Park Ave.

I read it five times just to be sure I wasn’t hallucinating. I hadn’t even remembered applying to BrightEdge. The past few days had been a blur of resume submissions, instant noodles, and avoiding a certain unread text like it was a loaded question.

But this? This was hope. A chance. A c***k of light in a long, exhausting tunnel.

And for once, I didn’t talk myself out of it.

“You need to wear the black blazer,” Kira said the next morning, arms crossed as I stood in front of the mirror like I was heading into battle.

“Too corporate,” I muttered.

“Exactly.”

She tossed me a neutral pair of pumps. “You look like a boss. Which means they’ll believe you are one.”

I didn’t feel like a boss. I barely felt like a functioning human. But when I stepped out of her apartment that morning—CV in my bag, hair in place, and a quiet little heartbeat of purpose under my ribs—I felt something I hadn’t felt in weeks.

Capable.

BrightEdge HQ was glass and steel and the kind of professional energy that made me sit straighter as soon as I stepped into the lobby. A young woman handed me a visitor tag and pointed me to the elevators with a sleek, practiced smile.

“Third floor. Left at the gold sign.”

I walked in, heels echoing softly against marble.

The office was modern. Open. Warm, somehow. Plants in corners. People moving fast but smiling.

I was early.

Perfect.

I was sitting near the reception desk scrolling through my phone when I heard a familiar voice—one I didn’t think I’d hear again outside a coffee shop.

“…Yes, I signed off on that yesterday. Have Lucas double-check the ad placement timing.”

I froze.

I knew that voice.

I turned my head slowly.

And there he was.

Jack.

In a perfectly tailored suit. Talking into an earpiece. Smiling at someone across the room as he walked with confidence I could practically feel.

What. The. Hell.

My stomach dropped.

Of all the companies in New York…

I turned my face back to my phone, praying to every higher power in existence that he hadn’t seen me.

But of course, fate wasn’t done yet.

“Gina?”

I looked up.

He’d stopped mid-step, eyes wide, lips parting like he wasn’t sure I was real.

Just like I’d been when I saw him that first day.

He walked toward me slowly, cautiously, like I was a bird he didn’t want to scare off.

“You’re… here,” he said, as if he couldn’t believe it.

I stood, trying to find my voice. “Apparently.”

He blinked. “Are you… interviewing here?”

I nodded.

“BrightEdge is a client of Topher,” he said, gesturing to the building like it was all connected. “I’m here every week for marketing strategy meetings.”

Of course he was.

I let out a breath and tried to smile, but it came out more like a wince.

“I wasn’t ignoring you,” I blurted.

Jack tilted his head, quiet.

“I mean—” I took a breath. “I saw the message. I just… I didn’t know what to say. And I didn’t want to say the wrong thing.”

His smile was soft. Not smug. Not relieved. Just... understanding.

“You didn’t owe me a reply, Gina.”

“I know,” I said. “But I wanted to give you one. Eventually.”

We stared at each other for a moment that felt like more.

Then he said, “I’m glad you're here. You look… determined.”

I laughed. “Terrified, actually.”

“Same thing,” he said, hands in his pockets. “You’re gonna kill this interview.”

“Thanks.”

He nodded, then added gently, “Still no pressure. Still no expectations. But… I’m really glad I ran into you. Again.”

And then—before I could say anything—he gave me one last warm glance and walked toward the conference room at the end of the hall.

I sat back down, pulse racing.

I didn’t know what to call what I was feeling.

But maybe the world wasn’t done surprising me yet.