RECOGNITION
1059 Words
Chapter 7
The door closed behind Tara with a soft click but the tension didn’t leave with her.
She took a few steps forward, her heels echoing against the polished floor, but her mind was still inside that office.
Still under his gaze that look.
That look.
Why did he look at me and say those words to me like that?
It wasn’t just authority or evaluation, it was something else, something deeper, that made her feel exposed.
Tara inhaled slowly, trying to steady herself.
“Everything okay?” She blinked.
Clara stood nearby watching her carefully. Tara forced a small nod. “Yes. I’m fine.”
Clara raised an eyebrow slightly, unconvinced. “He didn’t say much, did he?”
Tara hesitated “Not really.”
“That’s normal,” Clara said. “If he had a problem, you’d know.”
That didn’t make Tara feel better.
“Get back to your desk,” Clara added. “Your workload starts immediately.”
Tara nodded again. “Yes.”
She sat down at her desk but her focus wasn’t there.
Files were placed in front of her schedules, emails and instructions but her mind kept drifting back to him, to his eyes and the way he said her name.
She shook her head faintly.
You’re overthinking, he is the CEO, a powerful man.
Tara forced herself to focus on the work in front of her and for the next hour she worked fast, precise, careful and determined not to fail.
Inside his office, Jaden hadn’t moved much either the file in front of him remained untouched his attention was elsewhere, locked and focused l, his mind replayed the moment over and over again.
The door opened her walking in, her voice, her face unchanged just as he remembered, real and alive after four years of searching and now she is here working under him.
And she didn’t remember, his fingers curled against the desk.
A knock came at the door.
Jaden didn’t respond immediately.
“Sir?” Clara’s voice came from the other side.
“Come in.”
She stepped inside, composed as always. “You asked for a background check on the new hire.”
Jaden’s eyes shifted “Yes.”
“We’ve started the process.”
“Not enough.”
Clara paused.
Jaden leaned forward slightly, his gaze sharp now. “I want everything.”
“Everything?” she repeated.
“Where she’s been, who she lives with, her past records, her connections. Everything.” Clara hesitated for just a second.
“That might take time.”
“I don’t care how long it takes,” Jaden said calmly. “Just get it done.”
Clara nodded. “Understood.”
She turned and left. Jaden leaned back slowly in his chair, his eyes drifting toward the glass wall that overlooked the office floor and there he saw her.
Tara sat at her desk focused, her posture straight, her expression serious as she worked like nothing had happened, like she hadn’t just walked back into his life.
A faint almost unreadable expression crossed his face.
“You really don’t remember…” he murmured, recalling what she said in his office.
His voice was low.
Tara shifted slightly, a strange feeling crept over her like she was being watched, her fingers paused over the keyboard slowly she looked up.
Her eyes moved across the office floor. People were working, focused and busy, nothing unusual but still that feeling didn’t leave. She exhaled quietly and looked back down.
“Miss Tara.”
She looked up quickly.
A junior staff member stood in front of her.
“Yes?”
“The CEO wants this schedule updated and reviewed within the next thirty minutes.” He handed her a file.
Tara took it immediately. “Okay.”
Thirty minutes, her eyes scanned the document.
Her pulse picked up but instead of panicking she focused, adjusted, reorganized and prioritized
Her fingers moved quickly, her mind sharp despite the pressure, time passed faster than she expected and before she knew it she was done. Tara exhaled softly reviewing it one last time no mistake, no overlaps just clean
She stood file in hand and hesitated for just a second. Do I really want to go back there? The thought came uninvited but she pushed it away immediately she didn’t have a choice.
She knocked.
“Come in.”
Her chest tightened at the sound of his voice still calm and controlled.
She stepped inside.
The air shifted.
Jaden looked up.
And once again his eyes locked onto hers that same intensity, same unsettling familiarity.
Tara walked forward, placing the file on his desk.
“The updated schedule, sir.”
He didn’t look at it, instead he looked at her, studied her.
Her fingers tightened “Is something wrong sir?” she asked carefully.
A pause.
“No.”
But his eyes said otherwise.
He finally glanced down at the file, flipping it open.
Tara stood still waiting seconds passed.
“This is correct,” he said.
Relief flickered briefly in her chest.
“Thank you, sir.”
She turned to leave but his voice stopped her.
“Tara.” She froze.
Slowly she turned back. “Yes, sir?”
A beat of silence. “Have we met before?”
Her brows furrowed slightly.
“No,” she said honestly. “I don’t believe so.”
“Are you sure?”
Tara hesitated.
Why is he asking that? “I’m sure,” she replied.
Another pause.
Longer this time he studied her again.
“Go back to work.”
Tara nodded. “Yes, sir.”
She turned and walked out again her thoughts spiraling.
That wasn’t normal.
None of this was normal.
Why did it feel like he knew her?
And why—
Why did a small part of her feel like she should know him too?
Inside the office, Jaden’s grip tightened on the edge of his desk.
His gaze darkened “Not even a trace,” he murmured.
No recognition, no memory nothing but that didn’t change anything.
It didn’t erase what happened or how he felt or what she meant to him.
His eyes lifted again, locking onto her through the glass.
Still working and unaware, a slow breath left his lips and then
He whispered “I finally found you…”
- Writer
