The building towered above Sasha like a silver monument to ambition .Glass,steel and quiet power-exactly what she'd imagine when she got the chance of working at Rono's tech. Still standing at the entrance,she felt like an outsider stepping into someone else's world. She adjusted her blazer,smoothed her skirt and inhaled. Confidence was part of the dress code,and today,she'd wear it like armor.
The receptionist barely looked up when she introduced herself.
"๐๐๐'๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐? ๐ด๐.๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐น ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐,๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐."
Just like that. No warmth, no welcome. Only efficiency. She nodded,murmured thanks,and made her way down the hall.
Sasha didn't miss the hushed stares. Office buzz always sniffed out new blood,especially when it was young,pretty and assigned directly under the CEO's nose.
Her workspace was minimalist glass desk,neutral tones,a smart tablet already logged into her account. As she settled in,a tall woman approached. Tailord black dress,clipped heels,sharp eyes. She extended a hand.
"๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ฐ'๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ .๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐,๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐,๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐,๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐,๐๐๐ ๐๐๐'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐."
Survive? Sasha blinked."๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐."
"๐ฎ๐๐๐ .๐ฏ๐'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐."
Sasha opened her tablet,but her mind kept drifting, Kian. She'd seen his name in financial articles,tech magazine's even linkedin posts,shared with admiration and quiet envy. But it wasn't untill this moment that his presence felt real. Heavy magnetic even.
Just after eleven, the call came
Sasha ,report to the executive floor. Mr.Kian wants to meet you personally.
Melissa gave a tight nod but offered no encouragement.Only a faint,unreachable glances that warned more than it welcomed.
The executive floor smelled of leather,cedar,and quiet power. She walked past assistants typing silently, glancing up with faint curiosity before returning to their screens.
Then his office.
Floor-to-ceiling windows bathed the room in soft daylight. And there he was-again.Kian Rono-in a crisp white shirt, dark slacks,sleeves rolled just enough to show forearms and control.
He didn't look up immediately, but when he did,the room seemed to still.
"๐บ๐๐๐๐?"
"๐๐๐ ๐๐๐." She stepped forward, calm voice, but her heart raced.
"๐๐๐'๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐,๐๐๐ ๐'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐.๐๐๐'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐.
That was unusual. Her position wasn't high enough to warrant direct briefs. She noticed ,but didn't ask.Maybe he liked being hand-on. Or maybe...she reminded him of someone. The way his eyes occasionally lingered, when she glanced away made her wonder.
" ๐ป๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐บ๐๐."
"๐ด๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ "
The weeks passed on a whirlwind.Sasha become a quiet force in her team-precise,efficient, creative in her thinking.
She spoke little,observed a lot. And kian...noticed.At first it was nothing. A pause when she walked into meeting rooms.A subtle shift in posture when he entered a space she was in. Then there were the stolen glances,the kind that lasted just one second too long to be innocent.
Once, in the elevator,they stood alone she held her tablet. He stood a stop behind her, the scent of his cologn brushing against her skin like a secret.
"๐๐๐'๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐", he said,eyes fixed forward she glanced at him side ways." ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐."
He turned then , his gaze landing on hers fully.
There was that flicker again...interest laced with restraint. "๐ฐ'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ."
The elevator chimed. The moment dissolved. But the air between them had shifted.
Melissa had her eyes on Sasha more than ever.
At lunch one day,she leaned close and whispered."๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐'๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐จ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐."
Sasha frowned"๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐๐?"
Melissa offered a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "๐๐๐'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐'๐ ."
It wasn't the first warning she'd gotten. A few whispered comments here and there. Stories half-told about Kian's last assistant, who left without a goodbye. About how close she'd gotten. But Sasha wasn't here to play games. She was here to build something.
Yet....the tension didn't lie.
She'd catch Kian watching her during meetings. Once ,during a presentation, their eyes met across the room. Neither looked away for along humming second.
There was no touch,no like crossed. Only glances,and the slow,simmering awareness that something was growing quietly between them. Something dangerous, unspoken, and inevitable.
Sasha wasn't naive. Whatever this was it couldn't be acted on. Not yet.Maybe not ever.
But when Kian called her into his office again two weeks later, and closed the door behind her with deliberate calm,her breath caught anyway. "๐ณ๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐," he said, but his tone held layers. They both knew it wasn't just the project they'd be talking about.