KAIA
The office felt unfamiliar.
We had changed. The conversation was so sharp that I knew there was no coming back after this.
I didn’t look at him.
This time—
I chose not to.
NEIL
She walked in.
Same pace.
Same control. Less cheerful. Disappointed and from the circles she was trying to hide beneath her eyes, it looked like she had not slept.
But something in it—
felt sharper.
Deliberate.
Like she had already decided something.
KAIA
“We need to finalise this,” I said.
Straight.
Professional.
Distant.
He didn’t respond immediately.
“You already know what works,” he said.
“I do.”
“Then why are we still here?”
That—
was intentional.
I looked at him then. How could I want to shut him out – and still not walk away.
“Because you don’t.”
Silence.
Short.
Sharp.
NEIL
That landed.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
Just—
exactly where it needed to.
“You think I don’t?” I asked.
“I think you choose not to,” she said.
There it was.
KAIA
I looked over at my desk. At first I thought I would leave it but the water had gone over my head. I looked at him again with bold eyes and took a step forward.
Not slowly.
Not carefully.
“You walk away the moment something doesn’t fit your version,” I said.
His jaw tightened.
“You’ve done it before.”
A pause.
“You’re doing it now.”
NEIL
I didn’t move.
Didn’t step back.
Didn’t interrupt.
That was new. I could see the anger in her eyes and I knew it was justified but I couldn’t bear the words.
“You didn’t walk away because you didn’t feel it,” she continued.
Another step closer.
“You walked away because you did.”
That—
was it.
KAIA
I held his gaze.
Didn’t soften.
Didn’t pull back.
“Say I’m wrong.”
NEIL
Something snapped.
Not loud.
Not visible.
But it broke.
“You want me to say it?” I said.
My voice wasn’t raised.
But it wasn’t controlled anymore.
“You think I didn’t feel that?”
A step forward.
Now—
We were too close.
Again.
“You think I don’t notice you?”
Another step.
“Every time you walk into a room—
I know exactly when you’re about to speak.”
Every exhale you take I know what mood you’re in. Every time you change a perfume I know you’re switching personalities. Every piece of jewellery and every outfit says something different about you. You’re so vulnerable yet so mature at the same time I can’t see anyone beyond you. I… just never stopped noticing you.
I turned back.
Her breath shifted.
I saw it.
“You think I didn’t recognise that rhythm?”
A pause.
Not long.
Enough.
“That wasn’t the first time,” I said.
KAIA
My expression didn’t change.
But everything else did.
“What?” I asked.
NEIL
“That piece.”
My voice dropped.
“We’ve done that before.”
Her eyes didn’t leave mine.
“You walked away before it became something.”
Another step.
“You think I didn’t know?”
KAIA
The room felt smaller.
“Then why didn’t you say anything?” I asked.
NEIL
“Because you left.”
That was it.
No filter.
No control.
“And I wasn’t going to chase something that didn’t want to stay.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Real.
KAIA
I exhaled slowly.
Not shaky.
Not weak.
Just—
honest.
“I knew,” I said.
His eyes flickered.
Just once.
“That’s why I left.”
A pause.
“You weren’t the problem.”
Another step closer.
“What it meant was.”
NEIL
That hit harder than anything else.
“You think I don’t know what this is?” I asked.
KAIA
“I think you do,” I said.
“And that’s why you pretend you don’t.”
NEIL
We were close enough now—
that stepping back wasn’t an option.
KAIA
For a second—
just one—
everything aligned.
Not the work.
Not the project.
Us.
NEIL
“That piece,” I said quietly.
“It didn’t just work.”
“It stayed.”
KAIA
I didn’t look away.
“It became something.”
A pause.
“People felt it.”
NEIL
“And so did we.”
KAIA
This time—
Neither of us denied it.
NEIL
Neither of us stepped back.
KAIA
That was the difference.
NEIL
“So what now?” I asked.
KAIA
I almost smiled.
Almost.
“Now?”
A step closer.
“No pretending.”
NEIL
That was new.
KAIA
I held his gaze.
And this time—
didn’t look away.
“Let’s create something,” I said.
A pause.
Not soft.
Not playful.
Just—
certain.
“Off the record.”
Silence.
But this time—
It wasn’t empty.
It stayed
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