Meant To Miss, Destined To Meet

Chapter 12

Jack’s POV

Quan walked into my office with a grin that told me he knew something I didn’t.

“What?” I asked, not looking up from my laptop.

“You’re gonna want to hear this.”

“Unless it’s about a merger or someone trying to sue us, I doubt it.”

He dropped a folder on my desk with a dramatic thud.

I opened it.

I froze.

There she was.

Gina Dawson.

BrightEdge’s newest hire.

“Wait—she got the job?”

Quan nodded. “Word got around fast. Apparently she nailed the interview. Rebecca said she was authentic, sharp, and handled pressure like a damn pro.”

I leaned back in my chair, the folder still open in front of me. Her photo badge was paperclipped to the top page. She looked professional, a little nervous, and so painfully real.

I felt a knot I didn’t even realize I’d been holding start to loosen.

“She deserved that,” I said quietly.

“Yeah, man,” Quan replied, leaning against the doorframe. “She really did.”

I didn’t reach out.

Not yet.

I told her no pressure. No expectations.

And I meant it.

This wasn’t about me anymore.

She’d just gotten a fresh start. A real one. I wasn’t going to cloud that by stepping in too soon and making her wonder if I only saw her as some “coffee shop crush” with an expiry date.

So instead… I stayed in the background.

BrightEdge had another joint strategy session scheduled the following week, and I was leading it. Which meant I’d see her again.

It felt too soon.

And also not soon enough.

I wondered if she knew yet. That I was involved with the company. That our paths weren’t just crossing by chance.

Would she be upset?

Would she think I’d orchestrated something?

Would she avoid me?

The truth was, I didn’t want to just “run into” Gina again. I wanted to know her. Fully. Deeply. Without rushed timelines or missed chances. But I also didn’t want to chase her into a corner and ruin the one thing she’d finally gotten back: control.

So for now, I gave her space.

But make no mistake—

I was watching.

Not in a creepy way. In the way that someone notices when a story starts unfolding without them, and all they can do is wait to be written back in.

I checked her name in the internal calendar.

Her onboarding started Monday.

She was officially in the building.

And somehow… she still had no idea that I was rooting for her from just one floor away.