Chapter 69

Agnes

“And that concludes the initial lineup,” I said, clicking off the presentation. “I’ll be sending out feedback forms later today, but if anyone has immediate thoughts, feel free to share now.”

The room shifted as a few hands went up, and I spent the next several minutes fielding questions and comments about the next steps for the fashion show. But as each voice chimed in, I couldn’t help but glance at Elijah every so often, quietly trying to gauge his reaction.

He was sitting in the back of the conference room, auditing my presentation for the design department today with a notepad in his lap. It was just supposed to be a low-pressure audit, a chance for me to get some feedback on my managerial skills, but I couldn’t help but feel a nervous flutter in my stomach every time he wrote something down.

Especially with those eyes fixed on me the entire time.

When the meeting was finally wrapped up, people began filing out, their chatter filling the air as they drifted back to their desks. I lingered behind for a few minutes, gathering my notes and closing my laptop. Elijah remained where he was, watching me with an intensity that made the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

We lived together, and had been for some time now. We had shared a bed on more than one occasion. We had even kissed multiple times.

So why did he still have that strange ability to make me feel like every nerve in my body was on fire?

“You did well,” he said once the room was empty. “Your presentation was clear, and you kept control of the room. Not bad at all.”

“Not bad?” I raised an eyebrow, unable to stop the corner of my mouth from twitching upwards as if that would somehow cure my anxiety. “Is that your way of saying I was amazing?”

“You were impressive,” he clarified, his lips curving slightly. “But there’s always room for improvement.”

I paused. “What kind of improvement?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“For instance, I’d suggest addressing the quieter team members more directly,” he said, lowering his voice a little so as not to be overheard. “Not everyone is comfortable with speaking up in a group setting, but that doesn’t mean their input isn’t valuable. Sometimes you have to gently push people to contribute.”

I furrowed my brow. “Did anyone in particular stand out to you?”

He hesitated, his own brow knitting together slightly. “The woman sitting near the end of the table. Short brown hair, glasses. She seemed… withdrawn. Like she had something to say but couldn’t bring herself to speak up.”

My stomach sank. I knew exactly who he was talking about—the same designer I had noticed crying at her desk the other day. She was always quiet lately, but oddly enough, when I had first started working here, she wasn’t like that. I wondered if something had happened.

“I’ll check in with her later,” I said, feeling a little bad for not handling it sooner. “Thanks for pointing that out.”

Elijah gave me a small nod, his eyes softening a fraction as they met mine. For a moment, I thought he might say something else, but instead, he smoothed down his suit jacket and nodded his head toward the door. “I’ll leave you to it, then. Keep up the good work, Agnes. You’re doing great.”

His words lingered in the air long after he left, the kindness in his tone sending an unexpected little thrill through my chest. No matter how much I told myself that he was just trying to help me improve my managerial skills for the sake of the pack, the hopeless romantic side of me couldn’t help but secretly wonder otherwise.

But there was no reason to read into it that much. So, shaking it off, I gathered my things and headed back to my office.

It wasn’t until later that afternoon, when the office had quieted down a bit, that I spotted the designer Elijah had mentioned. I found her sitting at her desk, working on what looked like another sketch.

“Hi,” I said softly, and she jumped slightly, her wide eyes darting up to meet mine. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. I just wanted to check in. How are you doing?”

She blinked at me for a moment before quickly sliding her notebook over the paper she’d been sketching on. “Oh, um, yes. Everything’s fine. Thank you, Luna.”

Her voice was barely above a whisper, and I could see the tension in her posture, the way her gaze kept flickering nervously to something behind me. But before I could press further, a sharp voice cut through the air.

“Oops! My bad.”

I turned just in time to see Ava lurching toward me, a cup of dark coffee in her hand. In an instant, the coffee had arced out of her cup and directly toward me, splashing across my blouse and drenching the edge of the designer’s desk.

The room went silent as the coffee blossomed across my shirt, soaking clean through the fabric. I was frozen, my hands spread out to the sides.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Luna,” Ava said with an exaggerated gasp, although the smug glint in her eyes told me she wasn’t really all that sorry at all. “I didn’t see you there.”

I opened my mouth to retort, but I didn’t have time to dwell on her feigned apology or the reasons for her little ‘accident’. My focus shifted immediately to the designer’s desk, where several papers had been soaked through and the coffee was now dripping off the edge, precariously close to some computer cables.

Ignoring the coffee dripping down my blouse, I grabbed a handful of tissues and dropped to a crouch so I could begin blotting at the mess on the floor.

“It’s alright,” I said gently to the designer, who looked utterly mortified. “We’ll clean this up. Don’t worry about it.”

As I worked, a corner of one of the wet sketches caught my eye. Despite the smudges and the coffee stains, I could see the intricate details of the design—delicate yet precise lines that perfectly matched the style of…

Ava’s work.

My heart skipped a beat.

“Did you draw this?” I asked, holding up the sketch.

Before the designer could answer, Ava swooped in like a hawk and snatched the paper out of my hands with a tight-lipped smile. “Actually, that one’s mine,” she said smoothly. “I must have left it on her desk by mistake. Thanks for noticing, Luna.”

I frowned, glancing between Ava and the woman, whose face had gone pale. Her eyes darted to the floor, and she gave a small, hesitant nod.

“Yeah, Ava was letting me use her work as inspiration. I hope you don’t mind.”

My frown deepened. It wasn’t that I had an issue with designers sharing inspiration—in fact, I encouraged it—but something about this just didn’t sit right with me. Between Ava’s sudden intrusion, the designer’s mousey expression, and the coffee now covering her desk, it just seemed… off.

But before I could say anything about it, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and sighed softly when I saw Elijah’s name pop up on the screen.

“Can you come to my office? It’s urgent. Drop whatever you’re doing.”

With another sigh, I slipped my phone into my pocket and excused myself. By now, Ava was long gone—along with her sketch.

But I could feel her eyes on me all the way out the door.