You Two Know Each Other?

Present Day – Elliot

The boardroom felt unusually quiet despite Gerald flipping through some charts. I couldn’t focus on the projections or the numbers. My mind kept slipping back to that sunset moment with Susan. It was such a small thing...a quiet evening, a shared conversation...but it felt monumental now.

How could something that simple have left such a deep mark on me?

"Earth to Elliot," Gerald's voice cut through my thoughts. He snapped his fingers dramatically in front of my face. "You still with us, or have we lost you completely?"

I blinked and cleared my throat, straightening in my chair. "I'm here," I said, maybe too quickly.

"Good," he replied, sliding a report across the table. "Because we need your input on this marketing approach before next week."

I glanced at the report, but I couldn’t stop myself from stealing a glance at Susan. She sat a few seats away, her notebook open, scribbling notes with precision. Her face was calm, professional, completely unreadable.

Except I knew her too well. The subtle tightening of her jaw, the way her pen tapped lightly against the paper...it all told me she was anything but calm.

She finally glanced up, her eyes meeting mine for the briefest of seconds. There it was again, that flicker of hesitation. It was gone as quickly as it came, but it was enough to make my stomach tighten.

"So, Elliot, thoughts?" Gerald pressed, pulling me back to the present once again.

I looked at him, realizing I hadn’t processed a single word he’d said in the last few minutes. "Run me through it again," I said smoothly, masking my distraction.

Gerald sighed but launched into his explanation, pointing to a few charts on the screen. I nodded at all the right moments, giving the occasional "Hmm" or "I see," but my attention kept drifting.

Susan shifted in her seat, flipping a page in her notebook. The sound was soft, barely audible, but it felt deafening to me.

"Actually," Susan interjected suddenly, her voice firm, "I think we might be overlooking a key demographic in this approach."

Gerald paused, eyebrows raised. "Go on."

Susan leaned forward slightly, her pen poised in her hand as she explained her point. I barely registered the words; I was too focused on the way she carried herself. Confident, articulate, utterly in control.

And then, just as quickly, she glanced at me again...another fleeting moment...and my chest tightened.

"That’s an interesting angle," Gerald said, nodding thoughtfully. "What do you think, Elliot?"

For a split second, I considered giving some generic answer just to keep the meeting moving. But instead, I said, "I think Susan’s right. We need to explore that angle further."

Susan’s head turned slightly toward me, her expression carefully neutral, but I didn’t miss the slight softening in her eyes.

"Great," Gerald said, clearly pleased. "Let’s flesh that out in the next meeting."

The conversation shifted to other topics, but I barely registered them. My mind was still stuck in that sunset memory, the way Susan had looked at me back then, and the way she avoided looking at me now.

When the meeting finally wrapped up, Susan was the first to stand, gathering her things quickly. She was out the door before I could say anything, leaving me sitting there with Gerald.

"You two know each other, don’t you?" Gerald asked suddenly, his tone casual but his eyes sharp.

I looked at him, my face giving nothing away. "We’ve crossed paths before."

"Hmm," he said, not entirely convinced but clearly deciding not to push it further.

As I walked back to my office, I couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever was between Susan and me...past or present...it was far from over.

****

Susan

The meeting felt like it lasted forever, even though it was only an hour. Sitting just a few feet away from Elliot was a test I hadn’t prepared for. I kept my head down most of the time, my pen moving across my notebook in desperate scribbles that weren’t nearly as productive as I made them look.

I could feel his eyes on me, though. Not constantly, but enough to make my skin prickle.

"Thoughts?" Gerald asked, directing his attention to Elliot.

For a moment, there was silence. I glanced up just in time to catch Elliot blinking, clearly caught off guard.

"Run me through it again," he said smoothly, as though he hadn't just been zoning out in front of everyone.

Gerald sighed but complied, and I went back to pretending my notes were more interesting than the sharp angles of Elliot's jawline. But it wasn’t working.

It wasn’t just his presence that made it hard to concentrate. It was the memory.

That evening from so many years ago...the sunset, the quiet way Elliot had listened as I poured out my thoughts, the way he’d looked at me like I was the only thing that mattered. It had been one of the few moments in my life when I’d felt seen, truly seen.

And now? Now we were nothing more than strained silence and awkward glances.

I shook the memory off and focused on Gerald’s voice, catching just enough of the conversation to realize something was missing.

"Actually," I said, sitting up straighter, "I think we might be overlooking a key demographic in this approach."

Gerald looked at me, surprised but interested. "Go on."

I launched into my explanation, keeping my tone calm and professional even as my heart raced. I refused to let myself look at Elliot, though I could feel his attention shift toward me.

When I finished, Gerald nodded, clearly intrigued. "That’s an interesting angle. What do you think, Elliot?"

I tensed, waiting for his response. He could easily dismiss my idea, tear it apart, make me look foolish in front of everyone. But instead, he said, "I think Susan’s right. We need to explore that angle further."

I froze for a second, caught off guard by the unexpected support. Slowly, I turned my head just enough to glance at him. His expression was unreadable, but there was something in his eyes...a flicker of something familiar, something I couldn’t quite place.

"Great," Gerald said, clapping his hands together. "Let’s flesh that out in the next meeting."

The discussion moved on, but I barely registered it. My thoughts were spinning, caught between the past and the present, between the Elliot I used to know and the Elliot who now sat across from me, a stranger in so many ways.

As soon as the meeting ended, I stood and gathered my things, determined to leave before anyone could say anything. Especially Elliot.

I made it halfway down the hall before I realized I’d left my notebook on the table.

"Seriously?" I muttered under my breath, pivoting on my heel and heading back.

The door was still slightly ajar, and I hesitated, hearing voices inside.

"You two know each other, don’t you?" Gerald’s voice was casual, but there was a curiosity to it.

"We’ve crossed paths before," Elliot replied, his tone so even it made my stomach twist.

I stepped back, waiting until the voices faded before pushing the door open just enough to grab my notebook.

As I made my way out of the building, clutching the notebook like it held all the answers, I couldn’t help but replay his words.

We’ve crossed paths before.

That’s all I was to him now...a crossing of paths, a blip in his otherwise flawless life.

But why did it bother me so much? Why couldn’t I just let it go?