Unsaid, but felt

Chapter five: Strangers in the boardroom

CATHERINE

The hum of the city passed in a blur outside the cab window, but Catherine barely noticed. Her thoughts were too loud.

Rina sat beside her, sipping iced coffee and trying to lighten the mood. “You sure you’re okay to go back in there?” she asked, gesturing toward the looming office building ahead.

Catherine gave a small nod. “Yeah. I can’t hide forever.”

“Good. Because I did not put on makeup at 7 a.m. just for you to back out last-minute.” Rina smirked.

Catherine cracked the faintest smile. “Fair enough.”

Catherine sat quietly in the passenger seat of Rina’s car, staring out at the early morning city haze. The weight of the conversation from the previous day still pressed against her chest like a stone. She tried to push it down, but it kept bubbling up those tangled feelings, the memories, the questions she wasn’t ready to answer.

Rina glanced over at her, brow furrowed. “You’ve been quiet this morning.”

Catherine forced a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Just tired. That’s all. I’m fine. Just… haven’t been in the mood for people lately.”

Rina didn’t buy it. She’d known Catherine long enough to see through the cracks. “Catherine, I get it.”

They stepped out of the cab and headed through the glass doors of Stonebridge & Cole Marketing, their heels clicking softly against the marble floor.

The morning light filtered through the tall windows of Stonebridge & Cole, casting pale gold across marble floors that used to feel like home.

Now? They felt foreign. Cold. Too clean.

Catherine stood at the reception area with her badge pressed tightly to her chest, fingers curled around the worn edges like a lifeline. She hadn’t set foot in this building since the merger news broke. It had once buzzed with personality scrappy ambition, weird snack deliveries, the occasional office dog. Now? It was polished within an inch of its life. Modern. Silent. Corporate.

“This doesn’t even feel like our company anymore,” Rina murmured, adjusting her blazer. “New art. New logo. New shade of grey on the walls. I bet they even fired the coffee machine.”

Catherine tried to laugh, but it snagged in her throat. She swallowed the sound. Her gaze drifted to the glass-walled executive floor above, where shadows moved in tailored precision.

Every step deeper into the lobby made her heart thud harder an internal drumbeat of you don’t belong here anymore.

“You okay?” Rina asked softly, studying her like she already knew the answer.

“I’m fine.”

A lie. One she had perfected. Delivered on autopilot, with just enough curve to the lips and brightness in the eyes to pass.

Then a voice sliced through the silence.

Deep. Calm. Sharp enough to freeze her mid-breath.

“Let’s proceed with the introductions, shall we?”

Her lungs forgot their purpose.

Jason Smith.

There he was.

Alive. Unapologetic. In the kind of suit that whispered money and command, his presence turned the air electric.

She didn’t look at him. Couldn’t. But her body betrayed her heart seizing, skin tightening, a twist in her stomach that had nothing to do with morning sickness and everything to do with him.

He was here.

And he was pretending not to know her.

His gaze moved over the room, detached and clinical. No flicker of recognition. No shift. Nothing that hinted they’d ever shared a night that unraveled her.

That gutted more than she wanted to admit.

She straightened her shoulders. Grounded herself in her shoes. Just a job, she reminded herself. This is just work. You can do this.

But her skin still buzzed like he was standing next to her.

And that was the worst part how even without touching her, he still filled the space.

JASON POV

He knew she’d be here. He’d planned for it. Bought an entire company because of it.

But still he wasn’t ready for the way she made the room tilt when she appeared.

Catherine.

Even the sound of her name in his head felt like a confession.

She stood across the room, chin high, mouth pressed tight. Brave face on. He could tell he’d studied her enough in that one night to know her tells.

She hadn’t looked at him once.

It was impressive.

Infuriating.

He kept his expression neutral, nodding as Daniel Shaw, his COO, kicked off the official welcome. Jason stood by the tall glass windows with his hands clasped behind his back, posture perfect. Like he hadn’t spent the last week flipping through internal staff files just to find her name.

Like he wasn’t unraveling inside just seeing her again.

No one else knew. No one else would.

But the tension between them? It was alive. Buzzing. Real.

She was pretending he didn’t exist.

Fine.

He’d do the same.

If this was a game of masks, he’d wear his better.

But he couldn’t help the way his eyes kept finding her slipping past the rest of the room like nothing else mattered. And when she shifted, pressing her fingers to her stomach like she was grounding herself, something deep in him stirred.

He looked away first.

That pissed him off.

RINA

By the time the presentation wound down, Rina had seen enough.

Jason Smith didn’t just walk into a room. He owned it. With his silent stare and barely there smirk, he exuded the kind of power that came with obscene wealth and emotional constipation.

As the applause died down, she leaned in. “Why is the new CEO giving Bond villain? And did you see the way he looked at you?”

Catherine didn’t blink. “He didn’t.”

“Oh, please. He looked at you like you were a secret he’s trying not to spill. Or a sin he hasn’t finished committing.”

Catherine flinched, just barely.

Before she could answer, the elevator dinged, and a new distraction walked out like he’d been born to stir chaos.

Tall. Golden. Grinning like he already knew the punchline.

“Zane Carter,” he said smoothly, strolling toward them with one hand in his pocket and the other casually gesturing like he didn’t have a single worry in the world. “Chief Communications Officer. Wilson Global. And part-time charm dispenser.”

His eyes found Rina with laser precision. “You must be Miss Brooks.”

Rina blinked, unimpressed. “Depends who’s asking.”

Zane’s grin widened. “Someone who’s suddenly rethinking his whole no-dating-colleagues policy.”

Catherine barely stifled a laugh.

Rina folded her arms. “Do those lines work on anyone with self-respect?”

“Only the truly brilliant ones,” he replied without missing a beat. “You seem like a challenge. I like that.”

“You must like rejection, then.”

He mock-gasped. “Sharp and beautiful. Be still, my ego.”

Rina looked him up and down like she was measuring him for a takedown. “You done?”

“Not even close,” he said with a wink, and just like that, he pivoted and sauntered away leaving behind the faint scent of citrus and trouble.

Rina watched him go, eyes narrowed. “He’s not cute.”

“Mmhmm,” Catherine replied.

“And even if he was, I don’t do cocky.”

“Definitely not.”

“Shut up,” Rina muttered but she was smiling. Just a little.

For the first time in days, Catherine let herself laugh.

And then her phone buzzed.

New Task Assignment:

Client – Wilson Global Holdings

Project Lead – Jason Smith

Team Members – Catherine Willow, Rina Brooks

Her chest tightened.

Of course.

She looked up, drawn by instinct, and found him already staring. From the executive floor. Behind the glass.

Their eyes met.

No pretense this time. Just truth, sharp and bare between them.

He didn’t smile.

He didn’t look away.

And somehow, that single glance said everything:

This isn’t over. Not even close.