Episode 9:A Feeling I Couldn't Explain

POV SOFIA

The meeting room was already half full when I walked

in.

I took my seat and opened my notebook, trying to focus on the agenda in front of me.

Then I looked across the table.

Brandon was there.

i was surprised he was at the meeting despite being in a different department what's he doing here.

Seeing him now made me smile without even thinking about it.

Brandon noticed me and smiled back.

“Hey,” he said quietly.

“Hey,” I replied.

There was something strangely comforting about seeing a familiar face.

Brandon had been my crush back in university.

I had never told him.

Back then, I used to find excuses to sit near him, ask him questions about assignments I already understood, and pretend I wasn't paying attention whenever he walked into the lecture hall.

Now, years later, he was sitting across from me in a meeting at Cole Enterprises.

And somehow, the feelings weren't completely gone.

Not the kind of feelings that made me want a relationship with him. It was more like an old memory coming back to life.

A reminder of a time when things had been simple.

Before my family.

Before the lies.

Before I found myself pregnant for a man I don't even know

My smile faded slightly.

I quickly pushed the thought away.

The meeting started, and everyone turned their attention to the presentation.

Brandon occasionally leaned closer to the documents in front of him, and whenever our eyes met, he gave me that familiar little smile.

I couldn't help smiling back.

For the first time since everything happened, I felt genuinely happy.

After the meeting ended, people began gathering their papers.

Brandon walked over to me.

“You've been avoiding me,” he teased.

I laughed. “I haven't. You're the one who's always busy.”

“Fair enough.”

He leaned against the edge of the table.

“So, how have you been?”

I hesitated for a moment.

“I'm okay.”

He studied my face.

“You sure?”

I nodded.

“Yeah. Just a lot going on.”

He didn't push.

That was one thing I always liked about Brandon. He knew when to ask questions and when to simply stay beside me.

“Maybe we should catch up properly,” he said. “There's a place nearby. We could grab a drink after work.”

I smiled.

“I'd like that.”

“Good.

Across the room, Ethan stood watching us.

I didn't notice him at first.

His expression was unreadable, but his eyes remained fixed on Brandon.

He watched the way Brandon stood close to me.

The way I smiled.

The way I seemed more relaxed around him than I had been since joining the company.

Ethan's jaw tightened.

He turned away and walked out of the room.

A few minutes later, I was back at my desk when Daniel approached.

“Do you have a minute?”

I looked up.

“Sure.”

“We need another assistant for the executive floor,” he said. “Someone who can handle schedules, documents, calls, and general support.”

“I actually know someone,” I said.

Daniel raised an eyebrow.

“Really?”

“Yes. She's worked as an assistant before and she's currently looking for a job.”

“Tell her to come tomorrow morning.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes. I'll arrange an interview.”

I nodded.

“Okay. I'll tell her.”

Daniel left.

I pick up my phone and texted Claire

ETHAN

i watched the entire thing from the head of the table and said nothing.

l Said nothing through the small wave during the meeting.

the way her whole face changed once it ended—softening, opening, something easy and unguarded moving across it that I had genuinely never seen directed at anyone in this building, including me.

Brandon.

I already knew who he was.

I knew he worked at Cole Enterprises. I knew he and Sofia had attended the same university. What I hadn't known was how comfortable they were with each other.

Or how happy Sofia looked around him.

I watched the hug that followed.

The hand holding.

The way Brandon caught her eye like they shared a private history the rest of us weren't invited into.

I told myself it was irrelevant.

I told myself, repeatedly, that whatever this man's relationship to Sofia Brennan had absolutely nothing to do with anything I needed to concern myself with.

I did not believe myself even slightly.

Brandon leaned closer to her, saying something that made Sofia laugh.

I looked away.

Then I heard him as they moved toward the door.

"We're basically closing. What do you say we grab a drink?"

Sofia smiled.

"Okay."

The ease in her voice landed somewhere in my chest like something sharp.

I called Daniel into my office before they had even reached the elevator.

"Sir."

"Brandon Whitfield. He's on the Hendricks account."

Daniel checked his tablet.

"Yes, sir."

"Give him the Meridian file. I want it on his desk before he leaves today. Due tomorrow morning."

Daniel paused.

Looked up slowly.

"Sir—that's a significant file. He's about to leave for the day."

"I'm aware."

"It would mean he can't—"

"Daniel."

He stopped.

I held his gaze.

"Just do it."

He hesitated a moment longer.

Then nodded once and left.

He came back fifteen minutes later.

Knocked.

Entered.

Closed the door behind him carefully.

"It's done, sir. He's staying."

"Good."

Daniel didn't leave.

He stood there instead, tablet at his side, looking at me with an expression I rarely saw on him—not quite defiance, but close enough to it that I noticed immediately.

"Sir, why are you doing this?"

I looked up.

"Excuse me?"

"The Meridian file. It wasn't urgent. I checked before I delivered it. There was no real reason for him to stay tonight except that you decided he should."

He held my gaze.

"Why are you doing this, sir?"

I set my pen down slowly.

"If you like your job," I said evenly, "you will not ask me that question again."

Daniel's expression shifted—not quite fear, more the specific recalibration of a man who had just learned exactly where the line was and had no intention of crossing it twice.

"Understood, sir."

"Good. That's all."

He left.

I sat there alone in the quiet of my office and stared at the closed door.

I knew exactly why I had done it.

I simply refused to say it out loud.

---

SOFIA

I was at my desk packing up when Brandon's name appeared on my phone.

Brandon: Sofia, I am so sorry. They just dumped an entire account file on me out of nowhere—due tomorrow morning. I have to stay. Can we reschedule? I really am sorry. Terrible timing.

I stared at the message.

A small, illogical disappointment settled in my chest.

I had actually been looking forward to spending time with him.

Brandon had been my crush in university.

The kind of crush I had never admitted to anyone, least of all him.

And now, after everything that had happened recently, seeing him again had brought back a part of me I thought I had forgotten.

For a little while, I had felt normal.

Happy.

I typed my reply.

Me: It's okay. We can reschedule.

His response came almost immediately.

Brandon: I promise I'll make it up to you.

I smiled at my phone.

Me: I'll hold you to that.

I put the phone down.

Then Daniel appeared at the entrance of the corridor.

"Ms. Brennan."

I looked up.

"Mr. Cole would like you to join him for a working dinner. Discussing the Henderson revisions."

I blinked.

"Now?"

"Now," Daniel confirmed.

Something in his expression suggested he found this development as strange as I did, but he had no intention of saying so out loud.

I glanced toward Ethan's office.

The door was closed.

A strange feeling settled in my stomach.

Why did Ethan suddenly need me for dinner?

I picked up my bag.

"Okay. I'll get my things."

As I gathered my documents, I glanced once more toward his office.

I couldn't explain why, but something about tonight felt deliberate.

And I had a feeling I was about to find out why.