Chapter 2
1152 Words
CHAPTER TWO
EMILY’S POV
There are bad mornings and there are mornings where the man you accidentally slept with walks into your boardroom looking like the thumbnail for a finance magazine, standing across from you.
I stood in the doorway, coffee halfway to my lips with a heartbeat louder than the chatter I felt inside.
He looked up right as I froze staring back at him. Recognition flickered in his eyes, but instead of panic as expected he smiled. Relaxed. Almost smug. That it felt like an elaborate setup he’d already won.
I walked in like my legs weren't jelly and my world hadn't just curled up like a ball.
“Let's get started, shall we?” Miranda said with her signature Saccharine smile.
The boardroom for some reason felt…different. Cold and hostile. And I wasn’t sure if it was the conference table or him sitting across from me.
I clicked right through my presentation: structure, deliverables, milestones. Jace took notes. Eyes watching my lips move as I spoke, he never interrupted. He waited.
When I wrapped up, swallowing against my neck I finally asked. “Any questions?”
In the silence, a hand was raised. I looked up and realized it was his.
“May I?” he began.
Without any response, I gestured for him to continue.
“Since you’re confident we’ve covered everything…” he paused, staring into his book, and my heart did that stupid flutter—
“Then again, I have this one question,”
“Why do you say the client’s target demographic is 25-34, when the data market shows a spike in 35-44?”
Almost instantly the boardroom froze. He was right. The data shift was more than important but I had somehow misread it.
I swallowed.
“We the recruits are curious to know,” Jace cut in, a smile tugged at his lips as he stared back at me.
But then the silence that lingered afterwards, made it quite obvious that I was meant to explain, not shove it off like some random topic.
“Well,” I began, as I walked through the slide confidently and slowly.
“These reports have a two-week margin of error. Their live data feed isn't fully accurate.” I said.
“But I’ve cross-referenced it with Healthspan’s regional trials. Same decline. Wearable interest is strong, but it's plateauing in urban zones. Specifically the 25-34 range.” Jace protested.
He wasn't done.
“And if you look at the engagement rate from the recent pilot in Houston—-slide eight,” he pointed toward the projector. “You’ll see that the 35-44 demo had a higher conversion rate by 12%.”
“The spike was just an anomaly,” I snapped.
“Houston had a higher density of family households. Different motivations.”
“Or maybe,” he countered.
“They're just better long-term consumers,”
I clenched my jaw in defeat, glaring at him. And yet trying to keep it cool in front of the other board members and trainees.
“The 24-34 group is still the ideal early adoption base. They hype the drive, they build the trend,” I argued.
“Isn't long-term retention more valuable than temporary spikes? I mean the 35-44 pays for it and sticks with it longer.” Jace added.
I opened my mouth in defeat, then shut it.
God!
I hated how calm he looked…
“I designed this campaign with precision and you're analyzing fragments,” I said finally.
“I'm looking at fresh metrics,”
“And I'm updating a strategy that's three weeks old in a market that changes every hour.”
The room went silent, and even Marinda looked intrigued.
”All I’m saying is, we’re about to pour a million dollars into a demographic whose behavior is already shifting.” he protested.
“God damn him” I muttered to myself frustratingly.
The meeting adjourned fifteen minutes later, with Miranda praising the dynamic energy in the room. But ignored it as I packed my laptop with trembling hands.
It wasn’t that I had been wrong, but I’d been too focused on proving I was right.
I stormed into the hallway fuming from what had happened back at the boardroom. Heels, clicking against tile like gunfire. I didn’t even make it halfway down the hallway before—-
“Emily!”
I spun, seeing that he had his body pressed to the wall like he owned the damn building.
“I was only trying to make a point, I just saw a hole in the data and you did well yourself too,” he cut in.
“Flattery won’t get you out of the deep end, Jace. You’re still in training.” I shot at him.
“Are you always this cold after a one-night stand?” His voice echoed in my head, barely above a whisper. I should have moved, pulled away. Said something sharp and savage like I always did. But in that heated moment, my mouth didn’t get the memo.
Instead, his eyes scanned my face, lingering on my parted lips before flicking to the neckline of my blouse. Irresistibly, I felt heat rush to my cheeks and lower as I felt pinned.
My spine stiffened. “You’re out of line!”
I hated how calm he was, how close we both remained. I hated that my pulse hadn’t slowed down since the moment I felt his hand over my bare skin.
The problem with Jace wasn’t just that he was good-looking. It was that he was good, sharp, and surprisingly strategic.
He asked questions I hadn’t anticipated, caught errors others missed. And worst of all, everybody at the office seemed to like him the minute he set foot into the company building.
“You can’t seem to wipe off memories from that night huh?” he smirked.
The silence snapped taut between us. Tight and dangerous.
“I don’t know what games you’re playing, but this—-“ I gestured between us “ends here.”
Surprisingly, his expression didn’t change, but his voice dropped as he leaned closer to me. “Is that what you told yourself after that night?”
My breath caught. And it was like he’d reached into my chest, yanking the air out of it. My fingers curled at my side.
I took a step forward, so close that our bodies almost brushed. “None of that meant anything!”
Before I could come up with more satisfying words to say to him, Miranda’s voice sliced through the tension again.
“Ahh—-perfect timing you two,” she gestured, walking towards us with a smile creased on her face.
“The board members loved the insight exchange today, so we’ve decided…”
“To pair you both for the full relaunch of phase two,”
My eyes widened. “I’m sorry—what?”
- Writer
