Chapter 5: In Between
426 Words
It didn’t happen all at once.
With Athena, nothing ever did.
The elevator doors slid open, and she stepped in—then paused. Bobby was already inside.
Of course.
He glanced up, recognition settling almost immediately. “Ortaliz.”
“Carrero.”
There was the faintest curve in her smile this time—subtle, but there.
She stepped in and pressed her floor. Silence followed, not empty, just measured.
“You take the elevator more often now,” she said lightly.
“I always have.”
A glance from her—brief, amused. “No, you didn’t.”
A quiet laugh slipped from him. “You’ve been paying attention.”
“I notice patterns,” she replied. “Especially obvious ones.”
“And I’m obvious?”
“Recently.”
He shook his head, a hint of a smile still there. “Careful—you’re starting to sound approachable.”
“I’ve always been approachable.”
“That’s not the reputation.”
“That’s because people don’t try.”
The elevator continued its ascent, steady, uninterrupted. Neither of them spoke again, but the silence didn’t return to what it was before. It held.
Later that morning, the sales floor moved the way it always did—fast, layered, loud in all the ways that mattered. Bobby leaned casually against a desk near hers.
“You’re from the Province,” he said mentioning the place.
Not a question.
Athena looked up, curiosity flickering across her expression. “That was quick.”
“I’ve been there.”
That was enough to shift her attention.
“Not many people here have.”
“It’s quieter,” he said, “but not in a simple way.”
She studied him now, more directly. “Most people think it is.”
“They don’t stay long enough.”
A faint smile touched her lips. “Clearly.”
He shrugged lightly. “You start noticing things—the pace, the people, the way everyone seems to understand each other without saying much.”
“That’s accurate.”
“And intentional.”
That word lingered.
Because it was.
“And you?” she asked. “You understood that?”
“I paid attention.”
A pause settled between them—thin, precise.
“You’re familiar,” she said. Not a question. Not confirmation. Just recognition.
“Enough to know you didn’t come here by accident.”
Her gaze held his a second longer than before.
“No,” she said. “I didn’t.”
Something shifted—not sudden, not obvious. Just enough.
- Writer
