(Elara POV)
I'm packing my bag when I hear my name.
"Elara wait."
I turn, already bracing myself.
Alex is walking toward me from the corridor, phone still in his hand like he meant to leave and changed his mind halfway.
"Are you heading out?" he asks.
"Yes," I say. Then, because silence makes me nervous, I add, "I was just finishing up."
He nods. "Good. I mean that's fine. I just… give me a minute."
He gestures vaguely toward the small meeting room near his office. The one nobody really uses unless they don't want an audience.
I follow him in.
He doesn't close the door right away. Just leans against it for a second like he's deciding whether this conversation is necessary at all.
"Did I do something wrong?" I ask quietly.
He looks at me, surprised. "No. Why would you think that?"
"I don't know," I admit. "You don't usually stop me on my way out."
"That's fair," he says. Then exhales. "This isn't okay. Sit."
I sit, perching on the edge of the chair instead of leaning back.
He doesn't sit. He walks to the table, picks up a random file, flips it open without really looking at it.
"You've been off," he says finally.
The word stings more than I expect.
"I'm still getting everything done," I say quickly.
"I know," he replies. "That's not what I meant."
He closes the file and sets it down.
"You're quieter," he continues. "And before you say it— yes, I realize how ridiculous that sounds coming from me."
That almost makes me smile.
"Yesterday you corrected a number twice," he adds. "You usually catch it once and move on."
I look down at my hands. "I was tired."
"That's what I figured."
There's a pause. An uncomfortable one.
"I don't need details," he says after a moment. "I just needed to check if you were… okay."
The word hangs there, awkward and unexpected.
"I'm fine," I say automatically.
He tilts his head slightly. "That wasn't an answer."
I huff out a breath before I can stop myself. "I don't know how to answer that without oversharing."
"That's fair too," he says.
He steps closer without seeming to notice he's doing it. Not into my space exactly just closer than necessary.
"I'm not great at this," he admits, which shocks me more than anything else he could have said. "But when someone reliable starts slipping, I notice. And I'd rather ask than assume."
I swallow. "I didn't mean for it to show."
"It barely did," he says. "I might be the only one who caught it."
That should make me feel better.
It doesn't.
"I just don't want to be a problem," I say quietly.
He frowns slightly. "You're not."
I look up at him then.
He realizes what he said, shifts his weight.
"I mean you're not creating one," he clarifies. "There's a difference."
I nod.
He reaches past me to grab a pen from the table behind my chair.
His knuckles brush my arm.
We both freeze.
"Sorry," he says at the same time I say, "uh..It's fine."
Neither of us moves for a second longer than necessary.
Then he steps back, rubbing his thumb absently against his fingers like he felt it too.
"Anyway," he says, clearing his throat. "For the next few days, I want you looping me in a bit more. Not because I don't trust you. Just so I don't miss things."
"That sounds like extra work for you," I say.
"It is important I wouldn't suggest it otherwise."
"And after work?" I ask, softer now.
He thinks about that.
"After work," he says, "you handle whatever you need to. I don't need to know. I just need you here clear-headed."
"That I can do," I reply.
He nods once, like a decision has settled.
"You should go," he says. "It's late."
I stand, sling my bag over my shoulder.
"Thank you," I say, unsure what I'm thanking him for exactly.
He gives a small shrug. "For noticing?"
"Maybe," I say.
As I reach the door, he adds, almost casually, "Elara— if things get worse, don't wait until they show."
I turn back.
"I'm not good at guessing," he says. "And I don't like being blindsided."
"I'll remember that," I reply.
I leave with my heart doing something inconvenient in my chest.
Nothing happened.
And yet, everything feels slightly different like we stepped into a space neither of us named.
And neither of us is in a hurry to leave it.