DINNER TIME
1409 Words
The entire office knew.
Vivian realized it within thirty minutes of returning upstairs.
People tried pretending otherwise, of course.
Associates suddenly became fascinated by their laptops whenever she walked past. Conversations stopped half a second too late. Chloe kept giving her dramatic looks from across the litigation floor like she was personally watching a romance scandal unfold in real time.
And Damien?
Damien became unreadable.
Which was infinitely worse than anger.
He disappeared into meetings for most of the afternoon, speaking only when necessary, his voice colder than usual during conference calls while the entire thirty-second floor operated under visible tension.
Vivian tried focusing on work.
Really tried.
But concentration became impossible when her mind kept replaying the moment she said yes.
Not because she regretted it exactly.
But because of Damien’s face afterward.
Or rather—
the complete lack of expression on it.
That unsettled her more than shouting ever could have.
By six-thirty, the office had finally started emptying.
Rain still poured relentlessly outside, turning Manhattan into a blur of silver lights and reflections beneath the dark evening sky.
Vivian shut down her laptop slowly, exhaustion weighing heavily against her shoulders.
“You’re nervous.”
Vivian looked up immediately.
Chloe stood leaning against her desk holding her coat.
“I’m not nervous.”
“You reorganized the same file three times in ten minutes.”
Vivian frowned slightly.
“I’m thinking.”
“That’s what nervous people say.”
Vivian sighed and stood, grabbing her bag.
“It’s dinner, Chloe. Not a wedding.”
“Yes,” Chloe replied dramatically, “but the problem is that your boss looks two seconds away from committing a felony over it.”
Vivian shot her a warning look.
Chloe lowered her voice anyway.
“I’m serious. Damien hasn’t spoken more than five words to anyone since the lobby incident.”
Vivian’s chest tightened unexpectedly.
“He’s angry professionally.”
Chloe stared at her.
“You genuinely still believe that?”
Before Vivian could answer, Damien’s office doors opened.
Both women instinctively looked up.
And suddenly the air changed again.
Damien stepped out wearing his black overcoat, sleeves visible beneath the dark fabric while rainstorm shadows moved faintly across the glass walls behind him.
He looked tired.
More tired than usual.
But still devastatingly composed.
His eyes landed on Vivian immediately.
Not Chloe.
Never Chloe.
“Ms. Cole.”
Professional.
Cold.
The formality hit harder than it should have.
“Yes?”
“The Morrison deposition was moved to Monday morning.”
“I’ll update the schedule.”
Damien nodded once.
A pause followed.
Heavy.
Unfinished.
Vivian suddenly became aware of Chloe slowly retreating from the desk like a survival instinct had activated inside her.
Smart woman.
Damien’s gaze remained fixed on Vivian.
“You’re leaving.”
Not a question.
“Yes.”
Another pause.
Then:
“With Ellis.”
There it was.
Vivian straightened slightly.
“It’s dinner.”
Damien’s jaw tightened almost invisibly.
“You keep saying that like it minimizes the situation.”
“What situation exactly?”
His eyes darkened slightly.
“The one where you’re becoming emotionally involved with a man opposing this firm.”
Vivian stared at him carefully.
“You don’t know that.”
“I know men like Roman Ellis.”
“And you’ve made that very clear.”
Damien stepped closer slowly.
Not enough to alarm her.
Enough to affect her anyway.
“You think he’s pursuing you because he suddenly believes in coincidence?”
Vivian crossed her arms.
“And you think everything people do revolves around strategy.”
“Most things do.”
“That sounds exhausting.”
“It’s realistic.”
The conversation no longer felt professional.
Again.
Lately every interaction between them crossed lines neither seemed able to stop crossing.
Vivian lowered her voice carefully.
“Why does this bother you so much?”
Damien went silent immediately.
Wrong question.
Or maybe the right one.
Because something dangerous moved behind his eyes before disappearing beneath restraint.
“You’re important to this firm,” he said finally.
There it was again.
Coward.
The word flashed through Vivian’s mind instantly.
Damien kept hiding behind professionalism every time things became emotionally honest.
And somehow that irritated her more than it should.
“You know,” she said quietly, “for someone who claims Roman manipulates everything…”
She stepped closer too.
“…you’re not exactly honest yourself.”
Damien’s expression shifted subtly.
The tension between them thickened instantly.
Neither moved.
Neither looked away.
Vivian became painfully aware of how close they suddenly were.
Too close.
The lighting across the empty office softened the sharpness of Damien’s features slightly, but not enough to hide the intensity in his gaze.
He looked at her like he wanted to say something.
Something dangerous.
Something irreversible.
Instead, he asked quietly:
“Are you going to let him touch you tonight?”
The question hit like fire against skin.
Vivian’s breath caught immediately.
Shock.
Heat.
Anger.
All at once.
“Excuse me?”
Damien looked furious with himself the second the words left his mouth.
But it was too late.
The silence afterward became suffocating.
Vivian stared at him in disbelief.
“That is completely inappropriate.”
“I know.”
“Then why would you ask me that?”
Damien exhaled sharply and looked away toward the windows, frustration visible in the tension of his shoulders.
For the first time since meeting him, Vivian saw Damien Blackwood losing control in real time.
And strangely—
that affected her too much.
“I shouldn’t have said it,” he admitted quietly.
“No,” Vivian replied softly. “You shouldn’t have.”
But neither of them moved apart.
Which was the real problem.
The office suddenly felt dangerously intimate.
Outside, thunder rolled across the city while rain battered the glass walls surrounding them.
Damien turned back toward her slowly.
His voice lowered.
“You don’t understand what men like Ellis are capable of.”
“And you do?”
“Yes.”
The certainty in his answer unsettled her.
Vivian searched his face carefully.
“Tell me the truth.”
“About what?”
“Are you trying to protect me…”
A pause.
“…or are you jealous?”
The question shattered whatever control remained between them.
Damien’s gaze locked onto hers instantly.
And this time—
he didn’t look away.
The silence stretched painfully.
Vivian’s heartbeat became uneven beneath his stare.
Because suddenly the answer existed clearly between them whether Damien spoke it or not.
A sharp vibration broke the moment.
Vivian’s phone.
Roman.
Of course.
Neither moved immediately.
Then Vivian stepped back first, breaking the tension before it became something neither could undo.
She answered the call carefully.
“Hello?”
Roman’s warm voice immediately softened the atmosphere in a completely different way.
“I’m downstairs.”
Vivian glanced toward Damien instinctively.
Big mistake.
Because his expression after hearing that looked almost unbearably cold.
“I’ll be right down,” she said quietly.
“Take your time,” Roman replied smoothly. “I know your boss struggles with separation.”
Vivian nearly closed her eyes.
Dangerous man.
Very dangerous.
She ended the call slowly.
The silence between her and Damien returned immediately afterward.
But now it felt wounded somehow.
Like something important had almost happened—
and both of them knew it.
Vivian grabbed her coat carefully.
Damien remained near the windows, one hand resting against his jaw while he stared out at the storm-dark skyline.
He didn’t look at her when he spoke again.
“You should be careful tonight.”
Vivian paused.
Not because of the warning.
Because suddenly he sounded tired instead of angry.
She studied him quietly for a moment.
Then asked softly:
“Why do I feel like you’re trying to warn me about more than Roman?”
Damien finally looked at her again.
And something about the emotion hidden behind his eyes made her chest tighten painfully.
But before she could understand it—
he said only:
“Goodnight, Vivian.”
Nothing else.
No argument.
No jealousy.
No confession.
Just:
goodnight.
And somehow that hurt more.
Vivian left the office moments later with her thoughts tangled dangerously around two men who were becoming impossible to separate emotionally.
But as the elevator carried her downstairs toward Roman Ellis—
she couldn’t shake the feeling that Damien Blackwood had almost told her something important.
Something that might change everything.
- Writer
