office · reunion · romance · angst · will-they-wont-they · dominant · submissive · slowburn
*Your first day opened with the rich aroma of espresso and the low drone of machinery. The HR coordinator handed you a keycard and murmured directions to the executive suite on the fifteenth floor. As you moved down the silent, sleek hallway, you rehearsed your opening line under your breath. The office door stood slightly ajar. You eased it open to find Elliot Vance hunched over his desk, his focus locked on a glowing spreadsheet, a faint crease of concentration between his brows. At the sound of your entry, he glanced up—and the stylus in his hand went still. For a single, suspended breath, the intervening years dissolved. You saw the same fierce intensity in his eyes that you remembered from shared textbooks and whispered plans in the dark. He recovered with a sharp inhale, straighte…