The first time Raymond Santillan flirted with Gigi, it wasn't with words - it was with silence.
A lingering pause after she made a sharp observation in the Monday briefing. A faint smile when she shot down a lazy marketing pitch with more grace than should be legal. A tilt of the head every time she spoke, like he was listening not just to her voice, but to something underneath.
Most girls in the office would've swooned. Gigi didn't.
She took notes, kept her eyes forward, and mentally filed him under Danger: Charismatic Authority Figure.
He didn't push it - yet. But it was there. The unspoken current. The kind that could drown you if you weren't paying attention.
"Be careful with him," said Mia, her seatmate and fellow newbie, over lunch. "I heard he used to date one of the interns."
Gigi sipped her water, unbothered. "If he tries, he'll wish he hadn't."
Mia leaned in. "He's good-looking though. Admit it."
"He's a walking complication. With perfect teeth."
They both laughed, but Gigi's mind was already doing the math - calculating exits, reading patterns. She knew the type. Men like Raymond were always five steps ahead and fifteen smiles deep in charm. But charm didn't fool her anymore.
Still, she couldn't deny something had shifted.
He gave her the lead on a campaign pitch for a luxury brand - a big deal for a newcomer. Gigi suspected it was a test. Or bait. Or both.
"I like how your mind works," he told her in the strategy room one night after everyone else had gone home. "You don't just think outside the box - you torch the box and build something new."
She didn't flinch at the compliment. "Is that your way of saying I'm reckless?"
"No," he said, voice low. "It's my way of saying I've never met anyone like you."
There it was. The moment. The turn.
Gigi looked him dead in the eye. "Let's keep it that way, sir."
Raymond didn't flinch either. Just smiled. "Fair enough."
When she left the office that night, her heels echoed in the empty hallway, each step a reminder:
Don't let your guard down. Not for him. Not for anyone.
A lingering pause after she made a sharp observation in the Monday briefing. A faint smile when she shot down a lazy marketing pitch with more grace than should be legal. A tilt of the head every time she spoke, like he was listening not just to her voice, but to something underneath.
Most girls in the office would've swooned. Gigi didn't.
She took notes, kept her eyes forward, and mentally filed him under Danger: Charismatic Authority Figure.
He didn't push it - yet. But it was there. The unspoken current. The kind that could drown you if you weren't paying attention.
"Be careful with him," said Mia, her seatmate and fellow newbie, over lunch. "I heard he used to date one of the interns."
Gigi sipped her water, unbothered. "If he tries, he'll wish he hadn't."
Mia leaned in. "He's good-looking though. Admit it."
"He's a walking complication. With perfect teeth."
They both laughed, but Gigi's mind was already doing the math - calculating exits, reading patterns. She knew the type. Men like Raymond were always five steps ahead and fifteen smiles deep in charm. But charm didn't fool her anymore.
Still, she couldn't deny something had shifted.
He gave her the lead on a campaign pitch for a luxury brand - a big deal for a newcomer. Gigi suspected it was a test. Or bait. Or both.
"I like how your mind works," he told her in the strategy room one night after everyone else had gone home. "You don't just think outside the box - you torch the box and build something new."
She didn't flinch at the compliment. "Is that your way of saying I'm reckless?"
"No," he said, voice low. "It's my way of saying I've never met anyone like you."
There it was. The moment. The turn.
Gigi looked him dead in the eye. "Let's keep it that way, sir."
Raymond didn't flinch either. Just smiled. "Fair enough."
When she left the office that night, her heels echoed in the empty hallway, each step a reminder:
Don't let your guard down. Not for him. Not for anyone.
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