Chapter 3

Days passed in a flurry of activity as Samantha buried herself within the project. She was working late each night, fine-tuning her ideas for design concepts. Of course, the excitement of landing a high-profile job kept her focused, but the thoughts of looming Greg Thornton just refused to go away.

He was really into the project. He gave loads of feedback and set up extra meetings to get everything just right. Samantha couldn't but notice how he was attending to everything, though she was trying to be professional herself and not show growing anxiety.

On the fourth day, quite early in the morning, Samantha, as was now her habit, arrived in the Ascend Design office. Barely she had settled when Rachel called her with an urgent update.

"Ms. Reynolds, we've revised the schedule a little," Rachel said. "Mr. Thornton would like to discuss the project further with you today. Would you please come to his office?"

Samantha's gut tightened. Never had she contemplated this level of personal involvement. "Of course," she replied, hoping her voice was calm and didn't reflect her nervousness.

Greg's office was on the top floor and seemed very sleek and modern, with views all around the city. Taking the elevator up, Samantha's heart thudded upward with each floor. At her destination, she was sent down the hall into a large conference room with a long glass table by the receptionist.

Greg had already arrived and was standing beside the window, his back toward her. He turned as Samantha entered the room, his eyes engaging hers in curiosity and warmth.

"Ms. Reynolds, thank you for coming," he said, his voice modulated and smooth. "Please, have a seat."

Samantha took a deep breath and sat down, setting her materials on the table. "Thank you for having me.".

Greg nodded and took a chair opposite her. "I've been going through your designs. I must say, impressive. I wanted to go through some of them in person to make sure we're on the same page."

She tried to keep her attention on the project as he ran her through the details. All of Greg's comments were astute, and he appeared to be very genuinely interested in the outcome. She could not shake off the feeling that something was not quite right, though. His intensity and darting glances made her uneasy but, again, she couldn't place her finger on it.

The meeting ran longer than she'd anticipated. As they neared the end, Greg walked her to the door. "I just wanted to thank you for working so hard," he said, not letting his eyes dart away fast enough. "Your ideas are really coming together."

Samantha pushed a fake smile onto her face. "Thank you. I'm glad you like them."

With these words, Greg uttered as she turned to leave. There was something in his tone, a thread of familiarity that gave her the shakes and refused to brush off. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the unease. She needed to focus and not let personal worries intervene in her job.

That evening, Samantha returned home to the warm chaos of her daughters. With all their vigor, Lily and Emma came to greet her and tried to rid her of troubles in the mind while playing together and sitting down to dinner.

But the further into the night it got, and the girls were in bed, Samantha was on edgy nerves. She sat there in her darkened living room, playing the activities of the day in her mind. Greg's long gazes, his scrutinizing eyes—there was something untruthful about all of it.

There was a sudden knock that made her stop thinking. Somewhat shocked she went to open the door and found her friend and neighbor, Jane, standing there with a concerned and curious look on her face.

"Hey, Samantha, everything okay?" Jane asked, stepping inside.

Samantha pulled up a smile onto her face. "Yeah, just a long day at work."

Jane raised an eyebrow, catching something tense in Samantha's posture. "You sure? You look like there's something on your mind."

Samantha hesitated a moment before nodding. "It's just… the project. It's much more intense than I expected."

Jane nodded sympathetically. "I get it. But remember, you've got this. You're amazing at what you do."

"Thanks, Jane," Samantha replied, easing up a bit on her tension. "I do appreciate it."

With Jane out the door, Samantha locked it behind her and dropped onto the couch. This feeling of familiarity and unease that she was getting from Greg was only increasing, and she couldn't turn a blind eye to it anymore. She needed to be on guard for when it did finally pop up again.

The next morning, another meeting with Greg was set up for Samantha. As she was dressing herself up, she couldn't get rid of the feeling that there was something personal in their connection. Was he really able to recognize her, or again was she scaring herself for nothing?

Whatever it was, Samantha knew she needed to be prepared for everything. The game was big, and she just couldn't let her guard down.