chapter two: the Aftershocks
789 Words
Chapter 2: The Aftershock
Ethan couldn’t breathe properly.
Even after the meeting ended.
Even after the interns were dismissed.
Even after he walked out of the executive floor and back into the crowded elevator with shaking hands.
The image wouldn’t leave his mind.
Adrian Blackwood.
The CEO.
The man from that night.
The man he had shared something dangerously real with.
And now… his boss.
Ethan stared at his reflection in the elevator mirror.
“What are the odds?” he whispered under his breath.
Zero. That was the answer.
Absolutely zero.
The elevator doors opened on the fifteenth floor, and the interns were guided back to orientation tasks. Everything became noise after that—instructions, introductions, schedules.
Ethan nodded when he was supposed to.
Smiled when expected.
But his mind was elsewhere.
Three months ago, Adrian had felt like a stranger who briefly crossed his path.
Now he felt like a shadow that had followed him into his future.
---
Meanwhile, at the top floor of Blackwood Corporation, silence ruled.
Adrian stood by the glass wall of his office, looking down at the city.
But he wasn’t seeing it.
He was seeing Ethan.
The same face.
The same eyes.
The same quiet nervousness he remembered from that night.
Except now it was contained in a formal suit, hidden behind professionalism.
Adrian’s jaw tightened slightly.
“Of all places…” he murmured.
His assistant, Daniel, entered cautiously.
“Sir, the intern orientation went smoothly.”
Adrian didn’t turn around.
“Did you review the intern list?” he asked.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“And Ethan Cole is on it,” Daniel added carefully.
Adrian finally exhaled.
“I saw him.”
Daniel hesitated. “You know him?”
A long silence followed.
Adrian’s fingers tapped once against the glass.
“…Yes.”
That single word carried more weight than it should have.
Daniel didn’t ask further.
Smart man.
---
Downstairs, Ethan was assigned to the marketing division.
His supervisor, a strict woman named Ms. Harper, handed him a stack of documents.
“You’ll be assisting with client research,” she said briskly. “No mistakes. Blackwood expects perfection.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Ethan replied quickly.
But even as he spoke, he felt it.
A presence.
Somewhere above him.
Watching.
It made no sense.
And yet his skin prickled like he was being observed.
He shook the feeling away and focused on the documents.
But every few minutes, his thoughts drifted back.
Back to that night.
Back to Adrian’s voice.
Back to the way Adrian had looked at him just now.
Like he had been waiting.
Like Ethan had not arrived by coincidence—but by inevitability.
---
That evening, Ethan stayed late to finish his tasks.
The office had emptied out.
Only the soft hum of computers remained.
He stretched his tired arms and sighed.
“First day… and I already feel like I’ve aged five years,” he muttered.
Then the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Ethan frowned.
“Great. Now the building is haunted.”
He packed his things and headed toward the elevator.
But when he pressed the button—
Nothing happened.
He pressed again.
Still nothing.
A low voice came from behind him.
“You should take the stairs.”
Ethan froze.
That voice.
Slowly, he turned around.
And there he was.
Adrian Blackwood.
Standing in the dim hallway like he belonged to it more than the building itself.
Suit still perfectly fitted.
Expression unreadable.
But his eyes—
His eyes were different.
Focused.
Intense.
Familiar.
Ethan’s throat went dry.
“Sir…” he managed. “I… didn’t realize anyone was still here.”
Adrian took a step closer.
The air shifted immediately.
“You should leave before the maintenance system resets,” Adrian said calmly.
Ethan nodded quickly.
“Yes. I was just—”
But he stopped when he realized Adrian hadn’t moved away.
They stood there.
Too close.
Too quiet.
Too aware.
For a moment, neither spoke.
And then Adrian’s voice lowered slightly.
“You remember me.”
It wasn’t a question.
Ethan’s heart dropped.
“…Yes.”
Silence stretched between them.
Heavy.
Loaded.
Dangerous.
Adrian studied him for a long moment, like he was reading something unsaid.
Then, finally:
“Good.”
Just that.
One word.
But it carried something Ethan couldn’t name.
Possession.
Or something dangerously close to it.
Adrian stepped back first.
“Go home, Ethan Cole.”
Ethan froze at the sound of his full name.
But Adrian had already turned away.
Walking back into the shadows of the corridor.
Leaving Ethan standing there alone.
Heart racing.
Because something in Adrian’s voice made one thing very clear:
That night was not forgotten.
And neither was he.
- Writer
