Monday morning felt different.
Not because anything had happened.
Because nothing had.
Ethan hadn’t heard from Chloe all weekend.
No message.
No meme.
No random comment about pineapple pizza.
Nothing.
And the annoying part?
He noticed.
When Chloe finally walked into the office Monday morning, she seemed completely normal.
Almost too normal.
She smiled at reception.
Chatted with marketing.
Grabbed her coffee.
Then disappeared into a meeting.
No glance toward Ethan.
No quick wave.
Nothing.
Ethan told himself he didn’t care.
Which was exactly how he knew he did.
Around noon, Chloe finally rolled her chair toward his desk.
“Quick question.”
Ethan looked up.
“Go ahead.”
She frowned.
“Are you mad at me?”
The question caught him off guard.
“What?”
“You’ve been weird all morning.”
“I’ve been working.”
“No. You’ve been doing that Scorpio thing.”
“Scorpio thing?”
“The emotionally unavailable stare.”
Ethan blinked.
“I don’t have an emotionally unavailable stare.”
“You absolutely do.”
What neither of them realized was that both had spent the weekend overthinking.
Chloe had left the rooftop party wondering if she had accidentally pushed Ethan too far.
Maybe he wasn’t interested.
Maybe she had imagined the connection.
Maybe he simply enjoyed talking.
Meanwhile Ethan had spent two days convincing himself Chloe treated everyone the same way.
Maybe she wasn’t interested.
Maybe she was simply friendly.
Maybe he had imagined the connection.
Both arrived Monday carrying doubts.
Neither said them out loud.
The week continued awkwardly.
Not dramatically awkward.
Subtly awkward.
The worst kind.
Conversations felt slightly shorter.
Pauses lasted slightly longer.
Every interaction carried the weight of things unsaid.
Then came Thursday.
The company announced a major new project.
A six-month initiative involving multiple departments.
Names started appearing on the presentation screen.
Project managers.
Design leads.
Engineering leads.
Then—
“Ethan Cole.”
A few lines later—
“Chloe Bennett.”
The room buzzed.
They would be working together directly.
Every day.
For six months.
After the meeting ended, Chloe walked beside him toward the elevators.
“Well.”
“Well.”
She laughed.
“You know we’re going to end up arguing constantly.”
“Probably.”
“About design.”
“Definitely.”
“About deadlines.”
“Absolutely.”
For the first time all week, both smiled.
The tension cracked slightly.
Then the elevator doors opened.
And standing inside was Ryan.
Tall.
Confident.
Marketing department.
The same guy who had called Chloe away on the rooftop.
“Chloe!” Ryan grinned.
“You still coming Friday?”
“Maybe,” Chloe replied.
“We’ll see.”
Ryan smiled.
“Text me.”
The doors closed.
Ethan stared ahead silently.
Chloe noticed immediately.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s a lie.”
“It’s not.”
Another lie.
Later that evening, Ethan sat alone at his desk long after everyone had left.
His screen glowed.
The office was quiet.
But he wasn’t thinking about code.
He was thinking about a simple realization.
For weeks, he had been worried Chloe might not be interested.
Now he had a new problem.
What if she was interested…
in someone else?
Across the city, Chloe sat in her apartment staring at her phone.
A message from Ryan waited unanswered.
But it wasn’t Ryan she was thinking about.
It was Ethan.
And the strange feeling that every time she got closer to understanding him…
he pulled back.
Neither realized they were thinking about each other.
Neither realized they were asking the same question.
And neither realized that the new project was about to force them closer than either expected.
To Be Continued…
Next Episode:
Episode 4 – Working Late
Deadlines. Confessions. And nowhere left to hide.
