Power Lines

October. Noah arrived ten minutes early-again-and this time with an iced coffe

st, but by silence. No one was at the front desk. The office was dim, the

cou

slightly ajar, and Ethan's voice filtered

knew exactly what the projections were. We'

le

at six. Take

"Then let him walk. I built this witho

ic

Ethan stood in the frame, freshly shaven,

rly again,

ople," Noah replied. "Guess w

something in his express

Coffee, water, agendas. I want the deck on th

id, grateful for

membered that the CFO hated sparkling water and made sure there was still bottled instead. When the board members started tricklin

entere

en he did. The man had grav

rough the slides with surgical precision, explaining numbers with

anged between members. There was a tension under the surface-especially when on

e flicker in Ethan's

said smoothly. "He chose to pursue othe

That name-Mason Keats-it rang a bell. He couldn't

d out. Ethan stayed seated, eyes on the now-empty s

well," No

didn't

want me to schedule a debr

ed up. "No. I'll h

didn't move. "Wh

om wen

lowly. "Not y

arefully. "Sorry. J

nish that

ween them. It wasn't anger exactly. It was distance. That same

time, Noah could s

d quietly. "Just trying to und

u want to help? Then don't ask questio

e that, the

ah said, steppin

Noah knew the signs. He'd seen them in his sister, in himself, after their parents'

their newest beta. A missed investor call that Noah salvaged wit

gain. Noah had one foot out the doo

Rey

, sleeves rolled, leaning against the fr

d yourself

Coming from you, that

wa

ite himself. "We

pa

once," Ethan

ze. "You

he meeting. We were to

allowed

Then he tried to sell his share t

hi

act

't do trust. I don't do emotions at work.

ve to. But if you ever need someone who's not trying to se

t him then, ey

ange assistan

being a pre

e first time, Et

ot for lon

er this was between them,