~Katherine's POV
The sharp sound broke the quiet atmosphere of the room, and Amanda quickly glanced down at the screen before picking it up.
"I am sorry," she said while standing up. "This is work-related."
Without waiting for any further response, she stepped away from the chair and walked toward the door while already raising the phone to her ear.
A moment later, she stepped outside the office, and the door closed softly behind her.
The moment she left, the atmosphere in the room shifted.
A quiet tension slowly filled the space between Aaron and me, and for some reason, I could not shake the feeling that Amanda had intentionally left the room. That thought made a small wave of uneasiness pass through me, yet I forced myself to remain calm. I straightened my back slightly and prepared myself for whatever question Aaron planned to ask next.
Aaron remained silent for a moment, and during that short pause, I noticed the way his eyes stayed fixed on my face as if he was studying my expression carefully.
Then he finally spoke.
"The twins," he said slowly.
His voice was calm but careful, almost like he was choosing each word with great thought.
"Are they fine?"
I nodded gently while keeping my expression calm.
"They are fine," I replied politely. "Thank you for asking."
For a brief moment, I felt a little surprised that he asked about the twins first, but I quickly pushed that thought aside because this meeting was supposed to be about work. I did not want the conversation to drift into anything personal, especially with the complicated situation between us.
So I shifted the discussion back to business.
"So what questions did you have about the proposal?" I asked while opening the file that was resting on the desk in front of me.
I expected him to begin asking about the investment plan or the financial projections that Mathew and I had prepared earlier.
However, Aaron did not answer immediately.
Instead, he slowly leaned forward in his chair while moving slightly closer to the desk, and the movement caught my attention because it felt unusually deliberate. His eyes remained fixed on my face, and the intensity in his gaze made me slightly uneasy.
For a moment, he simply looked at me without saying anything.
The silence stretched between us again, and I could feel my fingers tightening slightly around the edge of the file in my hands.
I did not understand why he was looking at me that way.
Then he finally spoke.
"Go on a date with me."
The words were calm and direct, yet they completely caught me off guard.
For a second, I thought I must have heard him wrongly, because the request made absolutely no sense.
My mind struggled to process what he had just said, and I could only stare at him in confusion while trying to understand if he was serious or if this was some kind of strange joke.
For a moment, I simply stared at him while trying to process what he had just said. The request felt so sudden and inappropriate that it took me a second to gather my thoughts.
Then I straightened slightly in my chair and shook my head.
"I am not interested in going on any date with you," I said calmly.
Aaron did not look surprised by my answer. Instead, he tilted his head slightly while studying my face.
"Why?" he asked.
His tone was calm, but there was something persistent in it.
"Is it because of Mathew?" he added.
I scoffed lightly at that question because the assumption irritated me immediately, and I could not understand why he was dragging Mathew into something that had nothing to do with him.
"Do not bring Mathew into this matter," I replied firmly while keeping my eyes on him, because I wanted him to understand that I was serious and that the direction of this conversation was already becoming uncomfortable.
Aaron leaned back slightly in his chair while still watching me closely, and the expression on his face showed that he was not offended by my response. Instead, he looked thoughtful, almost like he was trying to study my reaction.
"So you are not with Mathew?" he asked again. "Then who is your man?"
The question made my patience wear thin, because it sounded far too personal for a conversation that was supposed to be about business matters. I had already made it clear that I was not interested in discussing my private life with him.
"That is none of your concern," I said while keeping my tone calm, although the irritation in my chest was slowly growing stronger.
However, Aaron did not look like someone who planned to drop the matter, and the calm look on his face only made it more obvious that he was determined to keep pushing.
Instead, he leaned forward again and rested his arm casually on the desk as if he was completely comfortable with the direction of the conversation.
"Fine," he said calmly. "Then give me your phone number so I can text you the date and time."
For a moment, I simply stared at him in disbelief because the request was so unexpected that it almost felt ridiculous.
I blinked slowly while trying to understand if he was actually serious.
"No," I replied immediately, because there was no reason for me to even think about that suggestion.
He raised one eyebrow slightly while watching my reaction, and a faint smile slowly appeared on his face as if he found my refusal amusing.
"So this is how you do business?" he asked while tilting his head slightly.
The question was clearly meant to provoke a reaction, but I refused to let it distract me from the real reason they were here.
So I calmly closed the file that was resting in front of me and placed my hands on the desk while looking directly at him.
"You are not asking for my number for professionalism," I said clearly. "And because of that, I would appreciate it if we go back to the main discussion."
For a brief moment, the room became quiet again while Aaron continued to look at me.
Then his lips curved into a small smile, almost like he was enjoying the situation more than he should.
"Alright," he said slowly, and the small smile on his face remained as if the conversation from earlier had not bothered him at all.
Then he finally asked the question he had supposedly come to ask about the proposal, and his tone became more formal as he mentioned a few things about the investment plan and the structure of the partnership.
I immediately opened the file in front of me and began explaining the details carefully, because this was the reason they had come to the office in the first place. I talked about the project timeline, the responsibilities of both companies, and also the expected growth if the plan was carried out properly.
However, even while I was explaining everything step by step, I stared at him, and I clearly saw that Aaron's attention was not truly on the discussion.