Our eyes met again

Olivia POV

The first person I saw when the boardroom doors slid open was the man I'd spent seven years praying never to see again.

Everything inside me stopped. No...No.

My heart lurched so violently it hurt. A cold wave rushed through me, rooting me to the polished marble floor…This couldn't be happening.

For a moment, I forgot where I was and why I'd come here. This had to be a mistake….It had to be.

Adrian Kingston was supposed to be part of my past, a chapter I'd buried and a name I had forbidden myself to whisper.

So why...Why was he sitting at the head of the conference table?

My fingers loosened around the notebook I was holding, it almost slipped from my hands.

The room blurred, the voices fading into a dull, distant murmur like someone turned the volume down. All I could hear was the frantic pounding of my own heartbeat.

Thump….Thump….Thump.

Slowly and lazily, he lifted his eyes from the file in front of him, our gazes colliding and I could swear my heart skipped a beat.

Seven years disappeared in an instant. I wasn't standing outside a boardroom anymore….I was twenty again.

Laughing beneath the old oak tree on campus and stealing kisses between lectures like a child. Listening to him promise…."I'll never let you go, Olivia.”

The man looking at me now wasn't the boy who used to smile as though I was his entire world. This person was different. He wore power like a second skin and his features were sharper, the softness I'd once loved had been carved away.

But his eyes...God, those gray eyes. I'd recognize them anywhere.

My stomach twisted. Why is he here?

No, the better question was…Why am I here?

I'd been working at Kingston Holdings for an entire week.

No one had told me the CEO had been abroad or shown me his photograph. If they had...I would've turned down the job without thinking twice.

"Miss Carter?” The HR director's voice snapped me back to reality.

The HR director's voice cut through my panic.

I blinked. Every person inside the boardroom was staring at me. I forced my stiff legs to move.

The quiet click of my heels echoed across the room. When I finally reached the conference table, the HR director smiled politely.

"Mr. Kingston, this is Miss Olivia Carter, the newest executive assistant assigned to the Executive Office.”

Adrian didn't answer immediately, his gaze lingered on me for one long, unreadable second before drifting to the clock mounted on the wall behind me. "You're two minutes late, Miss Carter." He said coldly.

He gestured toward the only empty chair beside him. "Take your seat."

My fingers tightened around the notebook in my hand. I don't think he recognizes me, I sighed, forcing myself to move further.

I lowered myself into the chair, careful not to make a sound. The leather felt cold beneath my palms, my notebook rested on the table, but my fingers refused to stay still. I curled them around my pen, forcing myself to focus on something other than the man sitting inches away.

"This meeting has already wasted two minutes," Adrian said, closing the file in front of him. "Let's not waste another." Instantly, every executive straightened in their seats.

A man in a navy suit stood, clearing his throat. "Good morning, Mr. Kingston. I'd like to present our proposal for the Ashton acquisition." He clicked a remote, and a series of charts filled the screen.

"Our team projects a twenty-three percent increase in annual revenue if we finalize the deal before the fourth quarter." The room remained silent while he spoke.

I quickly wrote down the important figures, trying as much as possible to focus on my job.

The presenter finally smiled. "That's all, sir."

Adrian didn't respond, he simply flipped through the report lying before him. The silence stretched until it became unbearable. Finally, he closed the file. "Wrong."

The presenter blinked. "...Sir?"

"You projected revenue based on last year's logistics costs." Adrian tapped the report once. "Shipping rates increased nine percent this quarter."

The man's smile vanished. "I... we expected them to stabilize."

"You expected." Adrian leaned back in his chair. "I asked for facts.” 

The presenter swallowed hard. "If you give my team another two days…"

Adrian raised one finger and the man fell silent immediately. "I didn't ask for an explanation….Redo the report."

"But the board is expecting a decision today."

"Then they can expect a better report tomorrow." He said calmly.

A director sitting across the table finally spoke. "Mr. Kingston, with all due respect, delaying the acquisition could cost us the deal."

Adrian slowly turned his head toward him, that movement alone made my stomach tighten.

"Would you like to take responsibility for a seventy-million-dollar mistake?"

The director opened his mouth then closed it immediately.

"I asked you a question."

"...No, sir."

"Good." Adrian looked back at the report as if the conversation had never happened. "Then don't interrupt mine."

My eyes drifted toward him before I could stop myself. The moment I looked… He was already looking at me. His gray eyes held mine without the slightest hint of surprise, like he'd been waiting for me to look.

My pulse stumbled, I immediately dropped my gaze to my notebook.

"Miss Carter."

My heart lurched, has he recognized me? I looked up, thankfully, he wasn't looking at me. His gaze remained on the report in front of him, one hand resting lazily on the polished table. "Your meeting minutes."

I stared at him. Meeting... minutes? What did he mean?

The room was so quiet I could hear the faint hum of the air conditioner overhead.

Then I caught the HR director giving me a subtle nod toward the notebook in front of me.

Oh…My notes.

"I'm sorry." I quickly slid the notebook across the table.

He took it without a word, scanning the page. "You missed the revised logistics percentage."

Heat rushed to my face. "I... I'll correct it immediately."

"Do that, right now." He handed the notebook back.

"Next agenda." He turned to the room.

------

The meeting finally came to an end.

I closed my notebook, slipped it against my chest, and followed the crowd toward the door.

Just a few more steps, the elevator….Then I'd have time to breathe.

"Miss Carter." His voice stopped me before my hand reached the door. Every muscle in my body locked. “Ofcourse. I had the worst luck.”

I considered pretending I hadn't heard him but I knew I couldn't. Slowly, I turned around.

The last executive quietly pulled the boardroom door shut behind him.

Click…The sound echoed through the now empty room. Just the two of us.

Adrian remained seated at the head of the table, signing the final page of a contract as though my presence meant nothing.

The silence stretched, every second tightening the knot in my stomach. Finally, he set his pen down. Only then did he look at me.

Those gray eyes unhurriedly swept over my face. "So..." His voice was low. "Miss Olivia Carter."

The way he said my full name made my pulse stumble. He knew, he had known from the moment I walked in.

"You'll be working directly for me from today onward."

I blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"I'm reassigning you."

"I... I was already assigned to the executive office."

"You were." He rose to his feet. "But I've changed my mind."

He walked toward me, his steps echoing across the polished floor. My heart pounded harder with each one.

He stopped barely an arm's length away, close enough to remember exactly what it had once felt like to be held by him.

"You have a problem with that?" he asked.

"N-No."

"Good." His lips curved. "I dislike repeating myself."

He stepped past me and opened the boardroom door. Without looking back, he said, "My office. Eight o'clock tomorrow morning."

He paused. "And Miss Carter…don't be late again.”