Chapter 1 - And We Meet Again
1307 Words
Calla – Three Years After
I had counted the years. Every day. Every hour.
Not because I wanted to—but because time has a cruel way of reminding you that some moments never really leave. Time became a habit. A rhythm. Marked by meals, milestones… and the laughter of a little boy who looked more like his father with each passing day.
But I never thought I’d see him again.
The elevator ride to the thirty-ninth floor was too smooth. Too quiet. My palms were slick against the leather of my portfolio, my heart drumming like it was trying to escape my chest.
This was supposed to be the biggest pitch of my career. A high-profile redesign for one of the most exclusive penthouses in the city.
It wasn’t supposed to bring me back to him.
When I stepped into the boardroom, I froze.
Tall. Golden skin. Dark brown curls, now cropped close. A tailored suit that said power, and a presence that made the room feel smaller, like gravity bent around him.
I hadn’t known his name the night we met. But I knew it now.
Eli Williams.
He turned, his eyes catching mine. He blinked once, and I saw it happen—the spark of recognition, the collision of memory and disbelief.
“You,” he said, as if the word caught in his throat. “I remember you.”
I forced my voice not to tremble. “Hello, Mr. Williams.”
A smirk tugged at the edge of his mouth. “So we’re doing last names now?”
“This is business,” I said, straightening my posture, reminding myself to breathe. “I’m here on behalf of Sinclair & Fox. I’ll be leading your penthouse project.”
He paused, eyes narrowing as if the universe had just played a trick on him.
“No idea it was you,” he murmured.
“Same.”
The air thickened with something I couldn’t name. Then the door opened, and his assistant breezed in, snapping the moment in half.
Eli straightened, slipping into CEO mode like he hadn’t just shattered three years of silence.
“Right,” he said briskly. “Shall we start?”
I nodded. “Let’s.”
But as I moved to the front and began my presentation, I could feel his gaze on me—not hostile. Not warm. Just… focused. Like I was a puzzle he hadn’t finished solving.
And deep down, I knew the truth.
He remembered.
He felt it too.
But he didn’t know the half of it.
Not about the little boy waiting at home with his curious eyes and his crooked grin.
Not about the secret I had carried quietly in my chest every day since that night.
And I wasn’t ready to tell him.
Not yet.
Then – Three Years Ago
The Night I Never Forgot
The rooftop bar buzzed with soft jazz and the gentle tap of rain against glass, but I barely noticed any of it. I sat there with a glass of wine I couldn’t finish, staring out at a city that suddenly felt too loud, too fast, too full of futures I didn’t know how to chase.
I had quit my job that afternoon. Walked out of a dead-end office with a folder full of rejected ideas and a heart full of exhaustion.
I felt powerful.
I felt alone.
And then he walked in—drenched from the storm, somehow still breathtaking. Golden skin. A lopsided grin. The kind of presence you couldn’t ignore even if you tried.
He sat beside me like we already knew each other.
“Looks like you’ve had the kind of day that calls for disappearing,” he said, setting down his drink.
I turned, met his gaze, and felt the air shift.
“Disappearing sounds tempting,” I said.
“Then let’s not exist tonight.”
We didn’t exchange names. We didn’t ask questions. We just talked. Laughed. Touched.
When he kissed me, it wasn’t reckless. It was careful. Like he was afraid I might break.
When he took my hand and led me to the hotel room upstairs, I didn’t hesitate.
We undressed slowly, like the truth was in the silence between zippers and sighs.
And for one night, I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t invisible. I was seen.
By morning, he was still asleep.
I slipped out without a note. Without a name.
Because I didn’t know how to make sense of something that felt so real… in a world that wasn’t meant to keep it.
Now – Present Day
Buried Truths
The moment I stepped into the towering lobby of William's Enterprises, I felt it—pressure behind my ribs. Like my body remembered before my brain did.
I wasn’t here for him. I was here for the job. The penthouse project could make my name in the design world. And I couldn’t afford to walk away.
Even if the past had just walked back into my life.
When I walked into the boardroom, he turned around—and the ground tilted.
Eli Williams. Three years older. Broader. Sharper. Still golden like summer.
His eyes widened.
“You…” he said, almost to himself. “Wait… I know you.”
I forced a smile. “Calla Reyes. Interior designer. I’ll be handling your penthouse project.”
He looked stunned. “You’re the girl from the hotel,” he said, voice low. “Three years ago.”
My smile tightened. “It was a long time ago.”
“I never got your name.”
“You weren’t supposed to.”
A pause. Heavy. Unspoken.
“Why now?” he asked.
“I didn’t know this was your project,” I said, too quickly. “It came through my firm. I was just assigned.”
“And now that you’re here?”
“I’m staying. For the job.”
He stared at me like he was trying to solve something. “Is that all?”
I straightened my shoulders. “It’s been three years, Eli. People move on.”
He didn’t respond right away. Just nodded slowly, like he wasn’t sure whether to believe me.
She gave a small, careful smile. “It was… a long time ago.”
“Three years,” he said. “Almost to the day.”
Calla’s breath caught.
He remembered.
But he didn’t know.
“Funny,” he added, walking closer. “I never forgot you.”
“Life has a way of... moving forward.” She dropped her gaze.
His eyes stayed on her. Searching. “Doesn’t mean you forget who made it pause.”
Her throat tightened. She could feel the truth pressing against her chest like a scream she wasn’t ready to release.
If he knew—if he ever found out—would he look at her like that again?
“I should go over the concept brief,” she said quickly, pulling a folder from her bag.
He took the folder but didn’t look away. “Where did you go?”
She hesitated. “Back to real life.”
“And did real life give you everything you were hoping for?”
Calla didn’t answer.
Because real life had given her something she never expected—a little boy with his golden skin, his curious eyes, and the very same smile that made her heart ache now.
But Eli didn’t know that.
Not yet.
“Alright,” he said finally. “Let’s work.”
He turned back to the table, and the meeting began.
But I could feel it.
His eyes followed me. Not with anger. Not with desire.
With curiosity.
And he didn’t know.
Not yet.
About the little boy with his father’s eyes.
And I wasn’t ready to tell him.
Some truths… were too dangerous to set free.
- Writer
