#Chapter 69: The Quiet Ones

Agnes “And that concludes the initial lineup,” I said, clicking off the presentation. “I’ll be sending out feedback forms later today, but if anyone has immediate thoughts, feel free to share now.” The room shifted as a few hands went up, and I spent the next several minutes fielding questions and comments about the next steps for the fashion show. But as each voice chimed in, I couldn’t help but glance at Elijah every so often, quietly trying to gauge his reaction. He was sitting in the back of the conference room, auditing my presentation for the design department today with a notepad in his lap. It was just supposed to be a low-pressure audit, a chance for me to get some feedback on my managerial skills, but I couldn’t help but feel a nervous flutter in my stomach every time he wrote something down. Especially with those eyes fixed on me the entire time. When the meeting was finally wrapped up, people began filing out, their chatter filling the air as