Chapter 68
2344 Words
✨One Drink✨
Elena Vale
The office felt familiar now.
Not comfortable—but familiar enough that Elena didn’t hesitate when she stepped through the glass doors for the third morning. The hum of printers, the low murmur of conversations, the constant movement of agents moving in and out of offices—it all settled around her like background noise she had already learned to filter out.
She didn’t stop at her desk.
Didn’t check messages.
Didn’t even take off her coat before heading straight to the conference room.
The door was already open.
Inside, the team had gathered the same way they had on her first day—files spread across the table, coffee cups half-finished, the projector casting pale light over the far wall.
Munroe stood at the front, one hand braced against the table.
He glanced up when she entered.
“Morning.”
“Morning,” Elena replied, slipping into a chair near the center.
A few of the others nodded at her.
Gareth gave a small wave from across the table.
She acknowledged it briefly, then opened her laptop.
The screen filled with the same network she had been studying for days.
Accounts.
Transfers.
Patterns that didn’t quite sit right.
Munroe tapped the screen with the remote.
“Alright,” he said, “we’ve confirmed movement through the secondary accounts. What we don’t have is a consistent endpoint.”
“Elena,” someone said from the other side of the table, “you were working on that last night.”
She lifted her head slightly.
“I found something.”
The room quieted.
She stood, walking toward the screen.
“Everyone’s been focusing on the outward transfers,” she began, clicking to the next slide.
A web of transactions appeared.
“But they’re not actually leaving the system.”
A few brows furrowed.
Munroe crossed his arms.
“Explain.”
Elena pointed to a cluster of accounts near the center.
“These aren’t exits.”
She clicked again.
“They’re loops.”
The screen shifted, showing a circular pattern.
The same funds moving.
Returning.
Disappearing briefly, then reappearing under different identifiers.
Gareth leaned forward.
“They’re recycling the money?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To hide volume,” she said simply.
“If the money never truly leaves, it’s harder to track the total amount moving through the system.”
Munroe stepped closer to the screen.
“And we missed that?”
“It wasn’t obvious,” Elena replied.
“The timestamps are slightly altered each cycle. It makes the pattern look random unless you overlay the sequences.”
She pulled up another slide.
The overlay appeared.
Now the pattern was clear.
The room went quiet.
One of the agents let out a low whistle.
“That’s… clean.”
Munroe turned toward her.
A slow smile spread across his face.
“I knew we were right to bring you in.”
Elena gave a small nod, already turning back toward the table.
“Now that we know what they’re doing,” she said, “we can predict where the next transfer will land.”
Munroe clapped his hands once.
“Alright. Let’s move.”
---
The office had a different rhythm at lunch.
Quieter.
Phones still rang, but less urgently. Conversations dropped into softer tones, and the constant movement slowed just enough to breathe.
Elena sat in her cubicle, a container of untouched food in front of her, laptop still open to a spreadsheet she hadn’t stopped looking at.
Her phone rested beside her hand.
She stared at it for a moment.
Then picked it up and dialed.
It rang twice.
“Elena?” Maya’s voice came through, warm and alert.
Elena leaned back slightly in her chair, lowering her voice.
“Hey.”
“Well this is unexpected,” Maya said. “You don’t call during the day unless something is wrong.”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
A pause.
“Then something is definitely wrong.”
Elena let out a quiet breath, glancing over the top of her cubicle wall before settling back again.
“I just… needed a break.”
Maya hummed softly.
“That bad?”
“No,” Elena said quickly. “Work is fine. Actually—it’s good. We’re making progress.”
“But?”
Elena hesitated.
Her fingers tapped lightly against the edge of her desk.
“I didn’t realize how much I’d think about someone while I’m working.”
Maya didn’t answer right away.
Then—
“Oh.”
Elena closed her eyes briefly.
“Yeah.”
“Ari?”
“Yes.”
A soft laugh came through the line.
“Elena.”
“What?”
“You sound like someone who’s in trouble.”
“I’m not in trouble.”
“You’re thinking about him during work hours. You’re in trouble.”
Elena shook her head, even though Maya couldn’t see her.
“I’m still focused.”
“I’m sure you are.”
“I am.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Elena sighed quietly, lowering her voice even more as someone passed by her cubicle.
“It’s just… different.”
“How?”
She paused.
Trying to find the words.
“When I leave work before, I just… leave. My mind stays on what I need to do next. What’s unfinished.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m thinking about him all the time.”
Maya smiled through the phone.
“I don’t see the problem.”
“I do.”
“Why?”
“Because it distracts me.”
“Does it?”
Elena frowned slightly.
“…no.”
“Then what’s the issue?”
Elena leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk.
“I miss him.”
The words came out softer than she expected.
Maya was quiet for a second.
Then gently—
“You’re allowed to.”
Elena’s fingers curled slightly against the edge of the desk.
“It’s only been a three days.”
“And?”
“That’s fast.”
“Or,” Maya said calmly, “it’s real.”
Elena swallowed slightly.
“I don’t even know what this is yet.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No, I don’t.”
“You call him every night.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“You think about him during the day.”
Elena didn’t answer.
Maya continued.
“You smile when his name pops up on your phone, don’t you?”
Elena glanced down at the device beside her.
“…maybe.”
Maya laughed softly.
“You’re gone.”
“I am not.”
“You are.”
Elena shook her head again, but there was no real argument behind it.
“I get… protective,” she admitted after a moment.
“Define protective.”
"I worry he's... you know what."
Maya’s tone shifted slightly.
“You're jealous?”
“I trusts him.”
“But?”
“I don't know my mind is crazy. I don't want women around him.”
Maya hummed thoughtfully.
“Your mind is crazy,” Maya laughed.
Elena leaned back again, staring at the ceiling for a second.
“I don’t mind.”
"Your feelings for him is growing."
Elena thought about it.
The way Ari had said it.
Calm.
Certain.
Not controlling.
Just… honest.
“You need to go out."
Maya was quiet again.
Then—
“I shouldn't.”
"Ari would want you to breathe easy."
Elena let out a slow breath.
“I’m not used to that.”
“I know.”
Another pause.
Then Maya’s voice softened.
“Does he make you feel safe?”
Elena didn’t answer immediately.
But the image came to her anyway.
Ari’s arm around her while she slept.
His hand steady against her.
The way he looked at her like he had already decided something about her.
“…yes.”
Maya smiled through the line.
“Then stop overthinking it.”
Elena laughed quietly.
“You always say that.”
“Because you always do it.”
A voice called Elena’s name from across the office.
She straightened slightly.
“I have to go.”
“Go be brilliant,” Maya said.
Elena smiled.
“I’ll try.”
“And Elena?”
“Yes?”
“Have a drink then call him tonight.”
Elena glanced at her phone again.
Her eyes drifted to the corner of her screen, but she wasn’t seeing the numbers anymore.
“I don’t want to lose focus,” she admitted quietly.
“On work?”
“Yes.”
Maya let out a small breath.
“You’ve spent your whole life being focused.”
“That’s not a bad thing.”
“It’s not,” Maya agreed. “But it’s also not the only thing.”
Elena leaned forward, resting her forehead briefly against her hand.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it to me.”
She hesitated again.
Then—
“With him… I don’t feel like I have to be in control all the time.”
Maya’s voice softened immediately.
“And that scares you.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Elena closed her eyes for a second.
“Because if I let go of that… I don’t know what happens next.”
Maya was quiet for a beat.
Then she said gently,
“Something good might happen.”
Elena let out a quiet, almost breathless laugh.
“Or something could go wrong.”
“That’s relationships,” Maya replied simply.
“They’re unpredictable.”
Elena shook her head slightly.
“I don’t like not knowing.”
“I know you don’t.”
“But you’re asking me to step into something where I can’t predict the outcome.”
Maya smiled softly through the phone.
“I’m not asking you to do anything.”
“You are.”
“No,” Maya corrected. “I’m telling you that you’re allowed to give yourself a chance.”
Elena’s fingers tightened slightly around her phone.
“A chance at what?”
“At feeling something you clearly already feel.”
Elena went quiet.
Maya continued, her tone steady but warm.
“You’re scared,” she said. “And that’s okay. Relationships are scary. Letting someone see you, depend on you, care about you like that—it’s not easy.”
Elena’s chest tightened slightly.
“But if you never take that step,” Maya added, “you’ll stay exactly where you are.”
“And what if where I am is fine?”
Maya didn’t answer immediately.
Then—
“Is it?”
Elena looked down at her desk.
At the neatly arranged files.
The structured order of everything.
Then her mind drifted—
To late-night calls.
To his voice.
To the way he held her like she belonged there.
“…no,” she admitted quietly.
Maya’s voice softened further.
“Then maybe it’s time to try something different.”
Elena let out a slow breath.
“I don’t know how to do this.”
“You don’t have to know,” Maya said.
“You just have to be willing.”
Elena sat there for a moment.
Letting that settle.
“Just… don’t run from it,” Maya added gently.
“I’m not running.”
“You were thinking about it.”
Elena didn’t argue.
Maya smiled through the line.
“Give yourself a chance, Elena.”
Another voice called her name from across the office again.
More insistent this time.
“I really have to go now,” Elena said.
“Go,” Maya replied. “And stop overthinking everything.”
Elena smiled faintly.
“I have to go.”
She hung up, the quiet of the cubicle settling back around her.
But this time—
It didn’t feel quite as heavy.
The rest of the day blurred.
Meetings.
Numbers.
Cross-checking accounts.
Elena barely noticed the hours slipping past.
At some point someone placed another coffee beside her.
At another, Gareth slid a file across her desk without interrupting her focus.
She didn’t look up.
Didn’t pause.
Just kept working.
When she finally leaned back in her chair, the room had thinned out.
She glanced at the clock.
6:02 PM.
Her shoulders ached slightly as she stretched.
“Still alive?” Gareth’s voice came from behind her.
Elena turned.
He stood a few feet away, jacket slung over his shoulder, expression lighter than it had been that morning.
“Barely,” she replied.
“That bad?”
“That good,” she corrected.
He smiled.
“I’ll take that as a win.”
She began gathering her things, sliding files into her bag.
Gareth hesitated for a second, then stepped a little closer.
“We’re going out,” he said.
Elena glanced up.
“As a team.”
He shifted his weight slightly, tone still easy but more measured now.
“Just a drink.”
She raised an eyebrow.
He exhaled softly.
“It’s just the team. Everyone’s going.”
As if on cue, one of the agents from across the room called out,
“Come on, analyst!”
Another voice chimed in,
“One drink for saving our asses!”
A few laughs followed.
Elena glanced around the room.
They were all looking at her now.
Waiting.
Not expectant in a heavy way.
Just… hopeful.
She looked back at Gareth.
He didn’t push.
Didn’t step closer.
Just waited.
Respectful.
Elena exhaled softly.
“One drink,” she said.
A grin spread across his face.
“That’s all we need.”
“Don’t make me regret it.”
“No promises,” he said lightly.
She shook her head, but there was a faint smile tugging at her lips as she slung her bag over her shoulder.
“Alright,” she said, stepping toward the door.
“Let’s go before I change my mind.”
The team gathered quickly, energy shifting now that the workday was over.
And as Elena walked out with them—
For once—
She let herself step away from the numbers.
And... What do you know, her thoughts.
- Writer
