CHAPTER FOURTEEN — The Distance Between Them
780 Words
Cassian kept his word.
He came to the next meeting, on time, sharply dressed, polite to everyone — and utterly unreadable.
He didn’t glance her way once.
Didn’t tease.
Didn’t even smirk when she corrected his assistant.
It was… unnerving.
Ava sat at the head of the long conference table, surrounded by department heads and analysts. Cassian sat two seats away, his focus trained entirely on the presentation slides. When she asked a question, he answered with crisp precision — no warmth, no spark, no trace of the man who’d once made her pulse skip just by standing too close.
She told herself it was better this way. This was exactly what she wanted: professionalism. Distance. Control.
So why did it feel like she’d swallowed a lump of stone?
---
After the meeting, everyone filed out — everyone except Cassian. He was gathering his things slowly, methodically, like a man who had all the time in the world.
Ava waited a moment, debating whether to leave first. But pride rooted her in place.
If he could act indifferent, so could she.
“Good presentation,” she said, her tone neutral.
He looked up, surprised, and nodded. “Thank you.”
She expected him to follow up with something — a remark, a playful jab, anything.
But he just slipped the last document into his case.
“Your feedback helped,” he said finally.
“Good.”
The silence stretched again, long and tight.
She crossed her arms. “You’ve been quiet lately.”
He looked at her then — really looked — and something flickered behind his calm expression. “I figured you’d prefer that.”
Her breath caught. “I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
And before she could respond, he walked out.
---
For the next few days, Ava threw herself into work with a kind of intensity that almost frightened her team. She arrived early, left late, and barely spoke unless necessary.
But no matter how hard she tried, her thoughts kept drifting.
To that look in Cassian’s eyes.
To the way his tone had shifted — no longer teasing, just cool.
It shouldn’t have bothered her. Yet it did.
Even Mia noticed. “Miss Cole, you’ve rejected every lunch invitation this week. You okay?”
“I’m fine,” Ava replied too quickly.
“Right,” Mia said, clearly unconvinced. “Because people who are fine always stare at spreadsheets like they personally offended them.”
Ava gave her assistant a sharp look. “I said I’m fine.”
Mia raised both hands in surrender and left the room.
When the door closed, Ava let out a long breath and pressed her fingers against her temple. She’d never been good at admitting when something — someone — was getting under her skin.
Especially someone like Cassian Hale.
---
That Friday evening, there was another company function. A networking mixer at a luxury rooftop bar — loud music, clinking glasses, endless polite laughter.
Ava hadn’t planned to attend, but board members insisted, and she couldn’t exactly refuse.
She spotted Cassian almost immediately — surrounded by executives, talking easily, charming as ever. But his laughter didn’t reach his eyes.
When his gaze flicked across the room and met hers, time seemed to pause.
A brief moment. A spark that neither of them acknowledged.
He looked away first.
Something inside her shifted — irritation, confusion, something dangerously close to disappointment.
She turned to a group of investors and joined their conversation, her smile flawless, her composure perfect.
But every time she laughed, she was aware of him standing somewhere in her peripheral vision.
And every time she tried to ignore it, her pulse betrayed her.
---
Later that night, as she stood by the balcony overlooking the city, Cassian appeared beside her — silent, hands in his pockets.
“Good turnout,” he said quietly.
“It was expected,” she replied.
“Still,” he murmured. “You handle all this better than most people could.”
She turned to him, brows slightly furrowed. “Why do you sound like you’re saying goodbye?”
He gave a faint smile — the kind that didn’t reach his eyes. “Maybe I’m just learning to stay out of the way.”
Before she could respond, he walked back inside, blending into the crowd.
Ava stood there for a long time, the cool night breeze brushing against her skin. She hated how empty the moment felt — how her chest ached with something she couldn’t name.
She whispered to herself, almost bitterly,
“Stay out of the way, then.”
But the words didn’t sound convincing.
- Writer
