Chapter 6: Business Only
1314 Words
Friday came sooner than Clara wanted.
She had spent the entire week trying not to think about the meeting.
It didn't work.
Every time she looked at the schedule on her desk, she saw the same name.
Ethan Blackwood.
She had worked with him for years.
She knew how he liked his coffee.
She knew which meetings he hated.
She knew he disliked unnecessary small talk and preferred everything prepared before he asked for it.
She knew his schedule better than almost anyone.
But that was the old Clara.
The woman who had spent three years organizing her life around him.
She wasn't that woman anymore.
At least, she was trying not to be.
"Clara?"
She looked up.
Ryan stood beside her desk.
"You've been staring at that file for five minutes."
Clara blinked.
"Have I?"
"Yes."
He glanced at the file.
"Blackwood Enterprises?"
Clara nodded.
Ryan gave her a curious look.
"Isn't that your ex-husband's company?"
She froze.
"How do you know that?"
He shrugged.
"It's not exactly a secret."
Clara sighed.
"I suppose not."
"Do you want me to ask Daniel to give the meeting to someone else?"
"No."
Ryan looked surprised.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Clara closed the file.
"I can handle it."
Ryan smiled.
"That's the spirit."
He walked away.
Clara took a deep breath.
She could handle one meeting.
It was just business.
Nothing more.
---
At eleven o'clock, Clara entered the conference room to make sure everything was ready.
Documents were arranged neatly on the table.
Water was placed beside each seat.
The presentation was loaded onto the screen.
She checked everything twice.
Then the doors opened.
Daniel walked in with two senior executives.
And behind them came Ethan.
Clara's heart skipped.
He looked exactly as he always did.
Dark suit.
Perfectly styled hair.
Calm expression.
The kind of presence that made an entire room notice him without him saying a word.
His eyes found Clara immediately.
For a second, neither of them moved.
Then Clara straightened.
"Good morning, Mr. Blackwood."
Ethan's expression changed slightly.
"Good morning."
The formal greeting seemed to bother him.
He was used to hearing her call him Ethan.
Sometimes even Ethan with a smile.
Now she was treating him like any other businessman.
Daniel gestured toward the table.
"Please take your seats."
Everyone sat down.
Clara took her place beside Daniel.
Ethan sat across from her.
The meeting began.
For the first twenty minutes, everything went smoothly.
Clara took notes, answered questions when necessary, and handed documents to the executives.
Ethan remained professional.
But every few minutes, his eyes returned to her.
She noticed.
She pretended not to.
When the discussion reached a complicated scheduling issue, one of the executives asked, "Can we have someone coordinate the next phase?"
Daniel looked toward Clara.
"Clara will handle it."
Ethan looked at her.
"She will?"
Clara met his eyes.
"Yes."
"Are you sure she's familiar with the project?"
Before Daniel could answer, Clara spoke.
"I reviewed the entire project yesterday, including the previous meeting notes."
Ethan paused.
"Good."
She nodded.
"Anything else?"
His eyes remained on her.
"No."
"Then we can continue."
The meeting moved on.
But Ethan's attention was no longer completely on the presentation.
He had seen Clara handle difficult situations before.
She had always been capable.
He had simply never taken the time to notice.
Now everyone else seemed to notice.
And he hated how much that realization bothered him.
---
After the meeting ended, the executives left the room one by one.
Clara gathered the documents.
She was almost finished when Ethan remained behind.
"Clara."
She continued arranging the papers.
"Yes?"
"Can we talk?"
"About the project?"
"No."
"Then I'm busy."
She picked up the folder.
Ethan stepped closer.
"You've changed."
Clara stopped.
"People change."
"Not this much."
She looked at him.
"You wouldn't know. You weren't paying attention."
The words hit him harder than he expected.
Ethan lowered his voice.
"I was wrong."
Clara's expression remained calm.
"You've said that."
"I mean it."
"I believe you."
He seemed surprised.
"But that doesn't mean things go back to the way they were."
"I know."
"Good."
She walked past him.
Ethan caught himself before reaching for her.
He had no right.
That realization frustrated him more than anything.
"Clara."
She stopped at the door.
"What?"
"Are you happy here?"
She thought about it.
"Yes."
"Good."
She smiled faintly.
"I am."
Then she left.
Ethan stood alone in the conference room.
He had expected anger.
Instead, Clara had given him something worse.
Indifference.
---
At lunchtime, Clara sat with Ryan in the company cafeteria.
"You survived."
She laughed.
"Apparently."
Ryan smiled.
"I was worried."
"Why?"
"Because your ex-husband looks like the kind of man who could make an entire room uncomfortable without saying anything."
Clara laughed.
"That's actually a very accurate description."
Ryan grinned.
"Then you definitely deserve a medal."
Clara shook her head.
"I just wanted the meeting to end."
"Well, you handled yourself really well."
"Thank you."
Ryan looked at her for a moment.
"You know, Clara, you're different from how I expected."
"How so?"
"I heard you're married to a billionaire."
"Was."
"Right. Sorry."
He paused.
"I thought you'd be..."
He struggled to find the word.
"Different?"
"Maybe."
Clara smiled.
"I've heard that before."
Ryan leaned back.
"Anyway, you're doing great."
"Thanks."
Clara smiled.
She liked talking to Ryan.
There was no pressure.
No history.
No expectations.
Just normal conversation.
She didn't realize someone was watching them from across the cafeteria.
Ethan had come downstairs for a quick lunch before leaving.
He stopped when he saw Clara laughing.
With Ryan.
Again.
His expression darkened.
Marcus, who was beside him, followed his gaze.
"Oh."
Ethan looked at him.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Say it."
Marcus hesitated.
"I was just wondering if you're planning to eat or stare."
Ethan gave him a cold look.
Marcus immediately picked up his phone.
"Right. Eating."
Ethan looked back toward Clara.
Ryan said something.
Clara laughed again.
Ethan clenched his jaw.
He didn't understand why it bothered him.
She was allowed to laugh.
She was allowed to have friends.
She was allowed to move on.
But knowing she was becoming comfortable with someone else made something inside him uncomfortable.
Maybe it was jealousy.
Maybe it was regret.
Maybe it was both.
---
That evening, Clara returned to her hotel room.
She had been saving money since leaving Ethan, and although the hotel was comfortable, she knew she couldn't stay there forever.
She opened her laptop and started searching for apartments.
After nearly an hour, she found a small one-bedroom apartment in a quiet neighborhood.
It wasn't luxurious.
It wasn't anything like the Blackwood mansion.
But it was hers.
She arranged a viewing for the next day.
For the first time, Clara felt excited about having a place that belonged completely to her.
No Blackwood family.
No Ethan.
No rules.
Just her.
She closed her laptop and smiled.
Her phone vibrated.
Another message from Ethan.
Ethan: I hope you got home safely.
Clara stared at the message.
Then she typed:
Clara: I did. Thank you.
She almost deleted it.
Instead, she sent it.
It was the first reply she had given him in days.
Across the city, Ethan saw the message.
He stared at the screen.
Three simple words.
But they felt like something more.
For the first time since the divorce, Clara had answered him.
Ethan smiled faintly.
Then another message appeared.
Clara: Please don't come to my workplace without a business reason.
His smile disappeared.
He read it twice.
Then he understood.
Clara wasn't opening the door.
She was drawing a boundary.
Ethan slowly placed the phone on his desk.
He could respect that.
But he couldn't stop thinking about her.
And for the first time, he wondered whether respecting her boundaries meant letting her go...
Or learning how to earn his way back into her life.
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