Chapter 2 – The Ghost She Left Behind
1277 Words
The office felt so different after she left.
Too quiet. Too heavy.
The air still carried her scent…something faint and expensive that lasted long even after she was gone. Ethan stood there with one hand on the glass wall, staring down at the city he owned and realizing, for the first time in a long time, he didn’t feel in control.
The rain had started again, light at first, and then It drummed against the windows, steady, persistent, like the universe mocking him.
New York didn’t stop for anyone, not even Ethan Black. But standing in that silence, it felt like everything had come to a halt.
She’s been gone for five minutes, maybe less.
And already, he missed the sound of her voice.
Pathetic, he thought. He wasn’t that man..not anymore.
He’d buried the version of himself that used to ache for her. Or maybe he’d just hidden it under all the power, money, and lies.
Ethan pulled off his tie, tossed it aside, and dropped into the leather chair behind his desk. His reflection in the glass looked composed, but he could feel the tension under his skin. It was in the way his jaw clenched in the faint tremor when he ran a hand through his hair.
He’d built empires to forget her.
He’d conquered markets, won awards, and made headlines.
But five minutes in her presence, and all of that meant nothing.
He closed his eyes.
And there she was again… the girl with the wild laugh and stubborn heart who used to drive him insane.
---
A soft knock broke through the silence.
“Sir?”
His assistant’s voice came from the doorway. “The quarterly report…”
“Later,” Ethan said, without looking up.
“But Mr. Black..”
“Later,” he repeated, "sharper now.
The door closed again, leaving him alone with the sound of rain and his own thoughts.
He loosened his cuffs and poured himself another drink. The whiskey burned its way down, but not enough to drown her out. He looked around the office for expensive art, marble floors, and cold perfection and hated it all for a moment. Every piece of this life was spotless, lively. Just like he wanted.
And just like she hated it.
He laughed under his breath. “You’d say I finally turned into a machine, wouldn’t you, Aurora?”
The name felt strange on his tongue.
Too intimate. Too dangerous.
He took another sip and turned toward the city again. Below, the lights flickered and bled through the mist. Somewhere out there, she was walking head high, refusing to look back. She always walked like she owned the ground under her feet.
God, he used to love that about her.
---
His phone buzzed.
A text lit up the screen: Dinner tonight? Don’t cancel again.
From Elise. The woman everyone thought he’d marry.
He stared at it for a long time before switching the phone off.
He wasn’t in the mood to play pretend.
He opened his laptop instead,trying to bury himself in the Paris deal, but the words swam on the screen. Instead, his cursor drifted, opening an old folder he should’ve deleted long ago.
And there she was.
Aurora Cole. Her ID photo was back when she worked for him. Younger, softer, with eyes full of ideas and a smile that had once made his world feel… lighter.
He scrolled down.
There was a saved note attached to one of her early design proposals that says..
Stop overthinking everything, Sometimes, people just love you, and that’s all.
He didn’t remember her writing it. Maybe she’d left it by mistake. But reading it now felt like a punch to the gut.
People just love you…
If only she knew how much that terrified him.
---
The memory came back without warning …the night she’d left.
Rain again. It always rains.
She’d been standing near his window, wearing his shirt, her hair still damp from the shower. She looked small and fierce all at once.
“You don’t have to pretend with me, Ethan,” she’d said quietly. “Not with me.”
He’d said nothing. Silence had always been his armour.
And when she finally turned away, he’d broken his own heart with the words that followed.
You should go, Aurora. You deserve someone who can love you back.
The lie tasted bitter then.And It still does.
He’d told himself he was protecting her from his world, from himself. But maybe he was just protecting his pride.
And now, five years later, she was standing in his office again, more untouchable than ever.
And he couldn’t stop wanting her.
---
By morning, the city sky had cleared.
He hadn’t slept a minute. The coffee in his hand was already cold and forgotten.
When he stepped into the elevator, his reflection stared back — dark circles under his eyes, tie slightly crooked, control slipping at the edges.
“Get it together,” he muttered to himself.
The doors opened onto the top floor conference room. His team was already there. Charts, projections, and polite chatter,all of it blurred into background noise.
Until she walked in.
Aurora.
Was fifteen minutes late yet unapologetic as always. Her hair framed her face in loose waves, her confidence filling the room before she even spoke.
“Mr. Black,” she greeted, professional. Calm.
He nodded. “Miss Cole.”
Their eyes met. The air shifted. The rest of the team might as well not exist.
She took her seat opposite him, flipping open her notes.
He forced himself to focus on the slides, the numbers, anything but the way she bit her lip when she thought. Or the faint scar near her wrist he remembered tracing with his thumb once.
She caught him looking.
For a second, her expression faltered... like something almost sad, and then she looked away.
The meeting dragged on. When it finally ended, people began to pack up, chairs scraping, papers rustling. Everyone left.
Except her.
She stayed behind, gathering her notes slower than necessary.
“You’ve changed,” he said, breaking the silence.
“So have you,” she said, without looking up. “You got better at hiding.”
He frowned. “What are you hiding?”
“Everything,” she said softly. “The way you feel. The way you break things just to prove you can fix them.”
Her eyes lifted to his steady, unflinching.
He had no comeback. Not this time.
She started toward the door, but he stepped forward. “Aurora…”
“Don’t,” she said, turning back slightly. “Don’t make this something it’s not.”
“What if it still is?” he asked quietly.
Her breath caught, just for a second — before she forced a smile. “Then that’s your problem, not mine.”
And then she was gone again.
---
That night, Ethan sat in the dark office. The city hummed outside, bright and indifferent. He leaned forward, hands clasped, eyes on the glass.
He’d spent five years convincing himself he didn’t love her.
Now he wasn’t sure he ever stopped.
He took a slow breath, feeling the weight of something between regret and longing settle deep in his chest.
“Five years,” he whispered. “And I still can’t get you out of my damn head.”
He glanced down at the untouched contract on his desk … Paris Deal: Lead Consultant – Aurora Cole.
A small smile ghosted across his face.
If fate wanted to play games, so be it.
He was done running.
And this time, he wasn’t letting her walk away.
- Writer
