MasukDamien’s POV
I noticed it on a Monday.
Not her specifically; I had been noticing her specifically for weeks, which was a problem on ita own but i was managing. This was different. This was me sitting in a board presentation about the Portland acquisition and registering, somewhere around the twenty-minute mark, that I had not heard
Serena’s POVWork had been going smoothly since Monday and my boss and I were acting all professional like something didn’t transpire between us on Friday.However, I noticed something; we were never together in a closed space. It’s either Beth is there with us or Williams.He’s trying to stay away, which is the most responsible thing to do even if I had not been able to take that night away from my head.Or the night in his car when we came back from the Aldrige’s dinner.I know I am not a whore but I know I want him to kiss me, and I am ashamed that if he doesn’t do it anytime soon I might be the one to initiate it.
Damien’s POVI noticed it on a Monday.Not her specifically; I had been noticing her specifically for weeks, which was a problem on ita own but i was managing. This was different. This was me sitting in a board presentation about the Portland acquisition and registering, somewhere around the twenty-minute mark, that I had not heard a single word in the last four minutes because I had been thinking about the way Serena’s lap had felt to my touch.I thought about our conversation this morning. I asked her a question, it had not even been an interesting question. Routine. I had asked her to pull the Aldridge follow-up and she had said it was already in my email with a three-line summary of the key points because she had anticipated I would need it, and the way
I heard the knock at seven forty-five on a Saturday morning and knew, before I opened the door, that it was not going to be a necessary visit. Whoever would visit me without informing me first must have a not-so-tangible reason to do that.Callie stood on the front step with two coffees from the good place three blocks over and a smile that was obviously fake. She was dressed like she had simply thrown something on, which meant she had spent less time on it. Her hair was perfect.It always was.“I was in the neighborhood,” she said.I had heard that line recently enough that it landed with a specific irony because it never is the truth. I stepped aside.
Friday was a very busy day, I had a lot on my table, so I even forgot to have lunch, and when Beth from the PR department had left the boss’s office, it was already 7pm yet I still had workload on my desk.Even the boss had not come out from his office since he went in in the morning.At 9 PM I went to submit the file I was working on. By this time, the building was usually quiet, occupied only by cleaning staff and colleagues who had accepted working late on a Friday wasn’t a big deal.I knocked on his door. “It’s open," I heard him say, his voice sounded hoarse and tired. This was the first time I was working late but he had worked late on several occasions since I arrived, I just never pegged him for someone who gets tired.Silly me, but he’s such a relentless workaholic.He wasn't at his desk, he was seated at the big sofa chair in his office, jacket gone, sleeves rolled to the elbows, macbook and three files open simultaneously on the coffee table, and a glass of something amber-
I did not expect to be invited to the Aldridge dinner.It was on the calendar, a private dinner hosted by the Aldridge family, old New York money, the kind of event that technically appeared as a business engagement but operated more like a social test. I had prepared his briefing notes for it and assumed my role ended there.Tell me why Thursday afternoon he stopped at my desk to tell me, “You’re coming to the Aldridge dinner tonight.”I looked up. “I, I…” I only ended up stammering, I did not know what to say.“The Aldridges are considering a property partnership. I want you there to take notes on what they don’t say," he shared.I looked at him. What did he mean by taking notes on what they don’t say? I needed to confirm, so I asked, “What they don’t say?”“People tell you more in what they avoid than in what they offer. You’re good at reading rooms. I’ve watched you do it for two weeks.” He said it the same way he said everything, matter-of-fact, like he had simply observed someth
Serena’s POVMia arrived at the office on Wednesday to take me to lunch.She did this occasionally, swept in with the energy of a small natural disaster, signed in at the front desk with cheerful confidence. My friend is full of confidence, she is someone who knows she can add chaos to someone’s afternoon and has made peace with that.She appeared at my desk like a gift that had not been requested.“Ready?” she asked, dropping into the chair beside my desk that was technically for professional visitors. “Because I found a ramen place two blocks over that a food blog described as life-changing and I’ve been thinking about it since breakfast.”I know her for her love for food; she loves food so much that she sometimes influences me into that. However, she eats a lot and she wouldn't add weight. I don’t know how she does it, but when I eat close to what she eats, my face is swollen and if I keep on, I add weight. Which I don’t want to.“I would just finish this,” I said, my eyes still on







