control
All of it required us to be in close proximity, sharing screens, discussing creative details, making rapid decisions that only worked because we'd developed a kind of shorthand with each other.
The attraction was becoming background noise—still present, but something I'd integrated into the working dynamic rather than something I was fighting against.
Until Wednesday afternoon, when everything shifted.
We were reviewing final media placement options. Eli was sitting close enough that I could see exactly what he was pointing at on the screen. Close enough that I was acutely aware of the warmth of him. Close enough that professional distance was becoming a meaningless concept.
"This placement