Plan
911 Words
I sat at the long dining table, the polished surface reflecting the soft golden light from the chandelier above. The table was filled with food, more than enough for three people, prepared with the usual precision the kitchen staff never failed to deliver. Yet, I barely tasted anything on my plate.
Cecilia was talking.
She always talked when she was excited.
“I still cannot believe how much the city has changed,” she said, smiling as she lifted her glass. “Studying abroad really opened my eyes. Everything feels so slow there compared to here.”
Caleb laughed, leaning back in his chair. “That is because you were born into chaos. Anywhere else would feel slow to you.”
She chuckled softly, her hand brushing his arm casually. “Maybe. But I missed this place. I missed both of you.”
She turned to me then, her smile warm, familiar. It was the kind of smile people expected me to return easily. The kind that came with shared childhood memories, late nights, laughter, and years of knowing each other.
I nodded faintly. “You have been gone for a long time.”
“Yes,” she said softly. “Too long.”
Caleb began talking again, something about a club he had opened recently, joking as usual, filling the room with his easy presence. Cecilia listened, laughing at the right moments, teasing him the way she always had.
But my mind was not there.
It drifted back to the company.
To the backroom.
To earlier that day.
I could still see it clearly. The moment my assistant rushed into my office, his expression tight, uneasy.
“Sir,” he said quickly. “Miss Anna has left.”
I remembered how my body reacted before my mind did.
I stood up immediately.
“Left where?” I asked sharply.
He hesitated. “She said there was an emergency. She rushed out in a hurry.”
Emergency.
The word echoed.
Anger surged through me, sudden and intense. It startled me.
Why did it bother me so much?
I had no answer then.
And I still did not have one now.
As the dining room chatter continued, my jaw tightened unconsciously. I picked up my fork, then set it back down without eating.
Maybe she went to meet her lover.
That thought had crossed my mind then, sharp and ugly.
It crossed my mind again now.
Cecilia’s voice pulled me back.
“You are awfully quiet tonight,” she said, tilting her head slightly. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” I replied automatically.
Caleb raised an eyebrow. “That was fast. Usually you would have lectured us by now.”
I ignored him.
The sound of footsteps reached my ears.
Then she appeared.
Anna.
She walked in quietly, her posture straight, professional as always. Her expression was calm, controlled, like nothing had happened earlier.
She greeted Caleb first.
“Good evening,” she said.
He smiled immediately. “There you are. I was wondering where you disappeared to today.”
She nodded politely. “I apologize.”
She did not look at me.
That alone was enough to set something off inside me.
She had left without permission.
She returned without explanation.
And she could not even look at me.
The anger I had been suppressing flared.
The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
“So,” I said coldly, “you went to meet your lover?”
The room fell silent.
I realized what I had said the moment it landed.
Caleb stared at me.
Cecilia’s smile faded slightly.
Anna froze.
Her eyes widened just enough to betray her shock.
“Lover?” she repeated quietly.
I did not respond.
She swallowed, then straightened. “What I attended to was important.”
“More important than your job?” I asked.
Her gaze lifted to meet mine then, steady and unyielding.
“Yes,” she said. “It was.”
Something snapped.
I did not know why.
I did not understand why her words affected me so deeply.
I stood up abruptly, the chair scraping lightly against the floor.
Cecilia looked at me, surprised. “Zane, are you not going to finish your dinner?”
I clenched my fists at my sides.
“No,” I said. “I have something important to do.”
I turned and walked away before anyone could say another word.
I headed straight to my study.
The door closed behind me with a soft click.
The silence was heavy.
I loosened my tie slightly, pacing the room. My thoughts were chaotic, uncharacteristic.
She was the woman from six years ago.
I knew that now.
The name. The details. The familiarity that refused to leave me alone.
She probably did not remember.
It had been six years.
One night.
A mistake.
A memory I had buried deliberately.
So why was she different?
Why did her presence irritate me, pull at me, unsettle me in ways no woman ever had?
I had sworn never to involve myself with women again.
They were all the same.
Corny.
Always looking for fame, money, influence.
Always wanting something.
But Anna was not like them.
Maybe she was different.
The thought lingered.
And as it did, a new plan began to form quietly in my mind.
One I did not yet fully understand.
But one I knew I would follow.
Whether I liked it or not.
- Writer
