Chapter Seven
901 Words
Maria
It should have ended with dinner.
A pleasant evening.
Good conversation.
A successful project.
Instead…
I caught myself smiling at absolutely nothing while making coffee the next morning.
I frowned at my reflection in the kitchen window.
“What is wrong with you?”
The kettle whistled.
I reached for my favourite mug just as the front door opened.
Daniel.
He looked exhausted.
His tie hung loosely around his neck, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes.
“There she is.”
He smiled tiredly before kissing my forehead.
“I missed you.”
“I missed you too.”
It wasn’t a lie.
I had missed him.
I just wasn’t sure I’d missed him the way I used to.
He dropped his overnight bag beside the sofa.
“How was dinner?”
I stirred sugar into my coffee.
“It was good.”
“Client happy?”
“Very.”
“That’s great.”
He walked past me towards the bedroom.
“I’m going to shower. I have another meeting at eleven.”
I stood there, spoon still in my hand.
That was it?
No…
How was your evening?
Did you enjoy yourself?
Tell me about it.
Nothing.
The conversation had lasted less than thirty seconds.
For the first time, I wondered whether Sophie had been noticing things I’d spent years ignoring.
…
Monday morning arrived faster than I wanted.
The Barcelona campaign officially kicked off, which meant another full day with Alejandro’s executive team.
I was arranging presentation boards when his voice came from behind me.
“Buenos días, María.”
I turned.
He was carrying two takeaway coffees.
“I wasn’t sure how you take it,” he admitted, “so I bought both.”
I laughed.
“You bought two coffees?”
“I considered buying six.”
I smiled despite myself.
“Flat white.”
His face lit up.
“I guessed correctly.”
He handed me one of the cups.
“Thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
Our fingers brushed.
A tiny touch.
Barely noticeable.
Yet my heart reacted as though he’d kissed me.
Ridiculous.
Completely ridiculous.
“You enjoyed Friday?” he asked as we walked towards the conference room.
“I did.”
“I’m glad.”
“I also owe you another apology.”
“You’ve already apologised.”
“I know.”
“But I assumed the worst.”
He smiled.
“You assumed I was asking an engaged woman to dinner.”
“I did.”
“Would it have mattered if I had?”
The question caught me completely off guard.
I looked at him.
His expression was calm.
Curious.
Not flirtatious.
Almost… honest.
“I…”
Before I could answer, the conference room doors opened.
The rest of the team poured in.
The moment disappeared.
…
The afternoon passed in a blur of schedules, budgets and design revisions.
Around three o’clock, the building lost power.
The lights flickered once.
Twice.
Then darkness.
A chorus of surprised laughter echoed through the room.
“Brilliant timing,” Sophie muttered.
Emergency lights glowed faintly along the walls.
Someone suggested taking a break while the engineers fixed the issue.
Maria stepped into the hallway, grateful for a few minutes away from spreadsheets.
She found Alejandro standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out over London.
“You escaped too?”
He smiled without turning.
“I needed five minutes.”
“So did I.”
They stood side by side in comfortable silence.
Below them, people hurried through the streets with umbrellas despite the sunshine threatening to break through the clouds.
“I used to think success would make life simpler,” Maria said quietly.
“And?”
She smiled to herself.
“It just made my calendar fuller.”
Alejandro chuckled.
“That’s painfully accurate.”
She looked at him.
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“When was the last time you took a day off?”
He thought about it.
“I honestly can’t remember.”
“That’s not healthy.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“By who?”
“My sister.”
“You have a sister?”
“A younger one.”
Maria smiled.
“So you’re not always working.”
“I try not to be.”
He looked at her.
“What about you?”
She hesitated.
“I used to paint.”
“Used to?”
“I haven’t touched a canvas in years.”
“Why?”
“I got busy.”
His eyes searched hers.
“Or you stopped making time for the things that made you happy.”
His words landed harder than she expected.
Because they were true.
A maintenance engineer appeared at the end of the corridor.
“Power’s back.”
The spell broke.
Alejandro pushed himself away from the window.
“I suppose reality is calling.”
Maria smiled.
“It usually does.”
As they walked back towards the meeting room, Sophie watched them from inside.
She leaned towards another designer.
“I’m calling it now.”
“What?”
“They’re going to be trouble.”
Maria caught only the last word.
“Who’s trouble?”
Sophie flashed an innocent smile.
“Oh… no one.”
But as Maria looked across the room, she found Alejandro already looking at her.
This time…
Neither of them looked away first.
- Writer
