They started seeing each other everywhere.
Not on purpose.
Not romantically.
On schedules.
Jay came with her father for quarterly reviews.
Keifer sat in for strategic expansions.
Same glass table.
Different files.
At first… they only nodded.
Nothing more.
"Good morning," he said once.
"Morning," she replied.
Eyes back to the screen.
Professional.
Always.
Weeks passed.
Then months.
Sometimes Jay corrected a figure before the analysts could finish.
Sometimes Keifer quietly slid a note across the table—
Check page fourteen.
She always did.
He was always right.
Still… no personal questions.
No coffee offers.
No lingering looks.
Only work.
One afternoon, during a tense regional review, an executive snapped.
"That adjustment is unrealistic."
Jay didn't flinch.
Keifer spoke before she could.
"It's uncomfortable. Not unrealistic."
The room froze.
Jay glanced at him.
Just for a second.
Later, in the hallway outside the boardroom—
"Thanks," she said.
He nodded.
"I would've said the same if it was my proposal."
She tilted her head slightly.
"…It wasn't."
"I know."
That was all.
Another meeting.
Another week.
Another shared silence.
They began to sit closer.
Not beside each other.
But close enough to exchange files without standing.
Close enough to notice when the other stopped writing.
One late evening meeting ran longer than planned.
Everyone looked exhausted.
Jay rubbed her temple without realising it.
Keifer noticed.
Quietly, without a word, he slid his water bottle toward her.
She stared at it for half a second.
Then pushed it back.
"I'm fine."
He didn't insist.
He simply took a sip and placed it closer to the centre.
Neutral.
Safe.
Professional.
The next meeting—
She placed an extra printed copy of a report in front of him before he asked.
He looked up.
She didn't.
Gradually…
they stopped needing introductions in rooms.
People began saying—
"Let Jay and Keifer handle that."
Still—
No texts.
No calls.
No dinners.
Only schedules.
Only shared strategy.
Only two people who trusted each other's minds long before they ever considered trusting anything else.
And somehow…
keeping it professional was the only reason it didn't already feel like something more.