Chapter 2 The Spark in the Room
ALEX HART’S POV
Seeing Joan today was one of the greatest surprises of my life.
The picture of her wouldn’t leave my mind as I drove home that evening. She was older, more confident, and exceptionally beautiful. I hadn’t expected that seeing her again would hit me so hard.
And the truth was… I missed her deeply.
I’ve had different girlfriends since we broke up, but none of them was like Joan. None of them made me feel the way she did with just one look.
I drove into the garage and parked, my head still wrapped around her thoughts.
When I got to the door, I noticed it was already open.
“She’s here again,” I muttered under my breath, clearly irritated.
I considered turning back, but she would have heard me drive in. There was no point so I just stepped in.
“Hello Son,” she smiled when she saw me.
My mother, Mrs Evelyn Hart, is like a thorn in my flesh.
“Hi mom,” I replied, pretending to be tired to avoid being lectured.
“I came to…” she started.
“I’m so tired, mum,” I quickly cut in.
“We will talk tomorrow morning before I leave for work.”
Without waiting for an answer, I headed straight into my room.
“I won’t even wait till you wake up before I leave for work tomorrow morning,” I whispered to myself, already planning my escape.
JOAN COLE’S POV
The next morning, an ear-piercing noise struck my ears.
“Oh shit,” I shrieked, jerking off the bed.
“This damn alarm,” I hissed and headed into the bathroom.
A few minutes later, I walked out of the bathroom and straight to my closet.
I searched through it and hissed in frustration.
“I have to get new clothes.”
I picked out some clothes and tried them on, but none of them felt right.
“What am I doing? Is this because of him? No… definitely not,” I muttered to myself.
Finally, I slid into a skimpy blue flowery dress and returned the others to my closet.
“This should do…” I sighed, looking at my reflection.
“It looks quite pretty and brings out my curves,” I felt my cheeks warm as I blushed.
Just then, Lena walked in.
“I need your mascara,” she said, but her eyes immediately landed on me.
“Isn’t this too skimpy for work,” she added, her gaze fixed on my dress.
“Is it?” I said, pulling the dress down as if that would magically make it longer.
“Let me guess… you have a meeting with Alex today,” she scoffed.
“Yes, I do…” I replied, avoiding her eyes.
“But I didn’t wear this because of him. I just wanted something comfortable.”
“Hmm…” Lena said.
“I’m not in support of this sudden desire though.”
She grabbed the mascara and applied it to her eyebrow.
“I would have changed it but I’m running late for my meeting,” I said softly.
I packed my hair into a tight sleek bun, applied my makeup, grabbed my bag, and headed for the door.
“I’m off,” I said as I dashed out of the room.
“Drop me off at the bus station,” Lena shouted, running after me.
When I got to work, my meeting with Alex was the first engagement my secretary told me I had on my schedule that morning.
I took my morning coffee and headed out for my so-called meeting.
On getting to the conference room where we were supposed to meet, Alex was already there, his sleeves rolled up and blueprints spread neatly across the table.
I could feel his sharp stare as I approached him, but why should I care?
“Good morning, Miss Cole,” he said, standing as I approached.
“Morning, Mr. Hart,” I replied, taking the seat opposite him.
Then, he smiled. The kind of smile that would have made me naked.
“Shall we begin?” I asked, pretending not to notice.
“Sure,” he replied.
“Our client wants a mixed-use space,” he said, sliding a document across the table.
“Residential on the upper floors, then commercial below.”
“I saw that,” flipping through my notes
“They are also very particular about warmth. They don’t want it to feel too corporate.”
“Exactly, they mentioned natural light many times during the briefing,” Alex nodded.
“Which means large windows,” I added. “And softer neutral interior tones.”
“Agreed,” he said, glancing at me briefly before returning to the plans.
“They are also big on sustainability,” he added.
“That’s where I come in with energy-efficient lighting and indoor plants that actually serve a purpose instead of just looking pretty,” I said.
“You always liked designs that breathe,” he smiled, his gaze fixed on me.
“Are we still talking about the client?” I looked up sharply.
“Right,” he said quickly. “Of course.”
I leaned forward, pointing at the blueprint. “They also requested flexible spaces. Areas that can transform depending on use.”
“You look so hot,” he said out of the blue.
Our eyes met for a second too long before I cleared my throat.
“What is he doing?” I thought to myself.
“Budget-wise, they are flexible,” I flipped to the last page of my folder, ignoring his comment.
“Yeah. And I think we will make a great team on this,” he said.
I closed my folder and looked at him. “Of course. As long as we keep it professional.”
“I will send over my initial concepts by Friday,” I said as I stood.
“Joan…” he stood too, walking closer to me.
“I’m glad it’s you on this project,” he said.
I looked at him for a moment, then I nodded.
“See you at the next meeting, Mr. Hart.”
Just as I reached the door, his hand caught my wrist and in one swift movement, he drew me back, pressing me gently, but firmly, against the wall.
“Do you think I can ignore how hot you look?” he muttered softly into my ears.
My breath hitched.