Clara
I hadn't planned to still be at the office past nine on a Thursday, but the vendor contract revisions had taken longer than expected, and by the time I finally submitted the last of them for board review, the executive floor had gone quiet around me, most of the lights dimmed except for a handful of offices where people, like me, had lost track of time.
One of those offices belonged to Ethan.
I saw the light beneath his door as I passed on my way to the elevator, and some old habit, some instinct I hadn't fully shaken despite everything, made me pause instead of walking past. Sebastian's words from a few nights ago kept circling back to me. Just don't wait so long that the man you're protecting yourself from becomes the only version of him left.
I knocked before I could talk myse
