--
The cafeteria was nearly empty.
Most employees had gone home, leaving only the hum of vending machines and the faint clatter of a lone dishwasher. Evelyn sat at the far corner, her tea cooling in front of her. She wasn't hungry. She wasn't tired. She was waiting for something she couldn't name.
Her notebook lay open beside her. The word Calder stared back, sharp against the page.
---
The door opened.
Ash Calder walked in.
No entourage. No announcement. Just him, moving with the same quiet gravity that had unsettled her in the elevator. His tie was gone this time, his shirt sleeves rolled up. He looked less like a CEO and more like a man who had been working too long.
He poured himself coffee, black, no sugar.
And then he saw her.
---
Their eyes met.
Evelyn's pulse jumped. She looked down quickly, pretending to stir her tea. Invisible. Stay invisible.
But he crossed the room anyway.
---
"Voss," he said, stopping at her table.
She glanced up. "Mr. Calder."
He studied her for a moment, then sat across from her without asking. His presence filled the space, quiet but undeniable.
"You're here late," he said.
"So are you."
His mouth curved faintly. "I don't sleep much."
She hesitated. "People say that."
"They say a lot of things."
---
She wanted to ask why. Why he stayed. Why he worked when others left. Why he looked at her like he was measuring something unseen.
But she didn't.
Instead, she said, "I'm still learning the system."
He nodded. "ValeTech isn't easy to learn. It's designed to keep people busy, not informed."
Her lips curved faintly. "Strategic laziness doesn't fit here."
His eyes sharpened. "Strategic laziness?"
She froze. Careful. That was Evelyn Hart's phrase, not Elena Voss's.
"Just something I read," she said quickly.
He didn't press. But his gaze lingered, heavy, as if he'd caught the slip.
---
Silence stretched.
Evelyn's thoughts tangled. He sees too much. If he looks too closely, he'll know. And if he knows… I disappear.
But another thought pressed in, quieter, more dangerous. What if I want him to see me?
---
Ash leaned back, sipping his coffee. "Nova Quinn is restless. She wants the Virex contract more than anything."
Evelyn's chest tightened. Nova's name was a wound that hadn't healed, a jagged line edged into her skin, still raw, still pulsing with the memory of betrayal.
"She's ambitious," Evelyn said carefully.
"She's desperate," Ash corrected. His tone was calm, but the word cut sharp. "Desperation makes people dangerous."
Evelyn looked down at her tea, the steam curling like smoke. Nova was dangerous once. She still is.
---
Ash stood, setting his cup aside.
"Be careful, Voss," he said. "Quiet isn't always safe."
And then he left.
---
Evelyn sat frozen, her pulse racing.
Her notebook lay open beside her. She picked up the pen and wrote another word beneath Calder.
Seen.
She stared at it until the letters blurred.
---
That night, Evelyn dreamed of Jace's silence, Nova's smile, and Ash Calder's eyes.
She woke with the word seen still echoing in her head.
---