Friday afternoon found Damian in the Westbridge office again.
The office looked almost exactly the same as it had the first time he’d visited.
Same modest furniture.
Same narrow windows overlooking the street.
Same collection of laptops, paperwork, and half-empty coffee cups scattered around the workspace.
The only real difference was the atmosphere.
There were more people moving around.
More conversations.
More activity.
Westbridge wasn’t just sitting still anymore.
It was moving.
Damian stood near the conference table, looking over a printed report Sarah had handed him.
"Thirty-eight out of fifty," he said.
Sarah nodded.
"Still our strongest first-week retention rate from a student test."
Damian looked at the report again.
"And the students who continued?"
"Most of them are still active."
"That’s good."
"It is."
Daniel entered the room carrying his laptop.
"Sorry. Had to finish a call."
"No problem," Sarah said.
Daniel sat down.
Claire was already there.
She had her laptop open and several notes beside her.
"Apparently I’m the only person here who came prepared," she said.
Sarah looked at her.
"You’re always prepared."
"Exactly."
Damian pulled out a chair.
"Should we applaud?"
Claire looked at him.
"You could."
"Nah I’m good."
She smiled.
"Worth a try."
Damian sat down.
Daniel brought up the second university pilot on the screen.
"Their team confirmed yesterday," he said.
Sarah nodded.
"Two hundred students."
Damian looked at the numbers.
"That’s four times the first pilot."
"Exactly."
"And they’re covering part of the implementation costs?"
"Yes."
Damian leaned back.
That was significant.
Not because two hundred students suddenly made Westbridge a huge company.
It didn’t.
But it meant someone outside their original university was willing to put real resources behind the idea.
That mattered.
Daniel continued.
"They’ve also asked whether Damian can participate in the planning."
Claire glanced toward him.
"Of course they did."
Damian looked at her.
"What?"
"You’ve somehow become the unofficial student consultant."
"I didn’t apply for the position."
"You don’t have to."
Sarah laughed.
Daniel smiled.
"We’d appreciate your input."
Damian nodded.
"Sure."
They spent the next forty minutes discussing the second pilot.
This time, they had more data.
They knew where students had struggled.
Which parts of the software confused them.
Which features they ignored.
Where users stopped during onboarding.
Claire presented several suggestions for improving the introduction.
Damian disagreed with two of them.
Not aggressively.
He simply explained why he thought the changes might create unnecessary friction.
Claire crossed her arms.
"You’re saying we should leave it alone?"
"No."
"Because that’s what it sounded like."
"I’m saying we should change the confusing part instead of changing everything."
Claire considered that.
Then looked at her notes.
"Okay."
She made a small adjustment.
"What about this?"
Damian looked.
"That works."
Claire nodded.
"Good."
Daniel watched the exchange.
"You two disagree more than most of the people I work with."
Claire didn’t look up.
"Because he has opinions."
Damian smiled.
"So do you."
"Exactly...superior ones."
Sarah laughed quietly.
The meeting eventually ended.
Daniel left first to take another call.
Sarah gathered the paperwork.
Claire remained seated.
Damian closed his laptop.
"That went well."
Claire nodded.
"Yeah."
She looked at him for a moment.
"You’re different."
Damian paused.
"Different how?"
She seemed to consider her answer.
"Before, you were more... cautious."
"I still am."
"I know."
She closed her laptop.
"But now you sound like you belong more in these conversations."
Damian smiled slightly.
"That’s probably because I’ve been in more of them."
"Maybe."
Claire stood.
She picked up her notes.
"Nice fashion sense by the way ."
Damian glanced down at himself.
He was wearing a simple dark shirt, clean sneakers, and the watch he’d started wearing more often.
"I’m assuming that’s means what I’m wearing is good ?"
"Yep."
Claire shook her head.
"It suits you."
Damian raised an eyebrow.
"That’s twice this week someone has said something about my clothes."
"Maybe people are trying to tell you something."
"Like what?"
"That you finally learned how to dress."
Damian laughed.
"Ethan said something similar."
"Then Ethan and I agree."
"That might be the most disturbing thing I’ve heard all week."
Claire smiled.
She walked toward the door.
Then stopped.
"You coming to the entrepreneurship meeting tomorrow?"
Damian frowned.
"I thought that was just for participants."
"It is."
"So why would I go?"
Claire looked back at him.
"Emily said you’d probably be there."
Damian sighed.
"Apparently everyone has decided my schedule for me."
Claire smiled.
"Apparently."
She left.
Damian stayed behind for another moment.
He looked at the closed door.
Then shook his head.
"She’s weird."
He wasn’t sure whether he meant Claire or the entire situation.
Probably both.
Claire walked down the stairs alone.
She checked her phone as she reached the first floor.
Nothing important.
She put it away.
Then paused.
Her thoughts returned to the meeting.
Damian had changed.
She had noticed it before.
Today, it was harder to ignore.
Not because he was suddenly dressed like someone wealthy.
He wasn’t.
He still looked like a university student.
But there was more confidence in the way he spoke.
He listened.
He disagreed without getting defensive.
And when someone challenged him, he didn’t rush to prove himself right.
When did he get like that?
Claire frowned slightly.
She didn’t have an answer.
And for some reason, she found herself wondering what he was like outside Westbridge.
She immediately dismissed the thought.
"Focus."
She continued walking.
It was nothing.
Probably.
The next afternoon, Damian found himself standing outside the entrepreneurship building.
He checked the message Emily had sent.
Emily:
Where are you?
Damian:
Outside.
She replied almost immediately.
Emily:
Coming.
A minute later, Emily appeared.
"You came."
"You asked me to."
"I know."
She smiled.
"Come on."
They entered together.
The preparation meeting was already underway.
Adrian was there.
So were several other students.
Adrian noticed Damian almost immediately.
He gave him a small nod.
Damian returned it.
Nothing more.
Emily leaned toward Damian.
"Try not to argue with him today."
Damian looked at her.
"I don’t argue."
"You definitely argue."
"I entertain discussions."
"That’s your excuse."
Damian smiled.
They took their seats.
The meeting focused on the entrepreneurship competition.
Teams were beginning to finalize their ideas.
Adrian’s team was working on a business platform designed to help small retailers manage inventory and sales.
It was polished.
Well researched.
And clearly had funding behind it.
Damian glanced through the proposal.
"That’s actually good."
Emily looked at him.
"You sound surprised."
"I’m not."
Across the table, Adrian heard him.
"Thanks."
Damian looked up.
Adrian smiled.
"I’ll take that as a compliment."
"It was."
Adrian nodded.
"Then I’ll return it."
The conversation continued.
A student asked Damian what he thought about one of the proposals.
Damian gave his opinion.
Another student challenged it.
He explained his reasoning.
Nothing dramatic.
No arguments.
Just discussion.
Claire watched from the other side of the room.
She wasn’t with Damian.
She wasn’t even supposed to be paying much attention to him.
Yet she kept noticing him.
The way he leaned back when listening.
The slight smile when someone made a good point.
The way he didn’t seem bothered when someone disagreed.
He’s actually very good in analysis .
She looked down at her notes.
Then caught herself smiling slightly.
She stopped.
Why was she smiling?
Claire shook her head.
"Get a grip."
Emily looked at her.
"You okay?"
Claire looked up.
"Yeah."
"You look distracted."
"I’m fine."
Emily shrugged.
"Okay."
Claire returned to her notes.
She wasn’t sure what had just happened.
And she wasn’t particularly interested in finding out.
At least, that was what she told herself.
After the meeting, everyone began leaving.
Damian packed his things.
Emily waited near the door.
Adrian approached them.
"Emily."
She looked up.
"Yeah?"
"Good luck with the proposal."
"Thanks."
Adrian glanced at Damian.
"Good luck with... whatever you’re doing."
Damian smiled.
"Thanks."
Adrian walked away.
Emily watched him go.
"He’s getting less subtle."
Damian adjusted his backpack.
"About what?"
"Nothing."
She looked at him.
"You seriously don’t notice?"
"Notice what?"
Emily laughed.
"Never mind."
They left the building together.
Outside, Claire was speaking with another club member.
She noticed Damian and Emily walking away.
For a second, her attention followed them.
Then she looked away.
She didn’t like the feeling.
Not jealousy.
Not exactly.
Just curiosity.
A little too much curiosity.
She had always thought of Damian as the daily casual guy befor he invested in Westbridge.
Then he became someone useful to work with.
Then someone whose opinions she respected.
Now...
Claire stopped herself.
No.
She wasn’t going there.
There was no reason to.
Damian was just a person she worked with.
A capable one.
An interesting one.
That was all.
Probably.
That evening, Damian sat at his desk reviewing Westbridge’s latest numbers.
The second pilot would require more preparation.
More users.
More pressure.
More room for mistakes.
He opened a document and started making notes.
His phone buzzed.
Emily:
Thanks for coming today.
Damian smiled.
Damian:
It’s cool...You asked me to.
Emily:
Still.
He stared at the message.
Then typed:
Damian:
Anytime.
He put the phone down.
A second later, he picked it up again.
He looked at the conversation.
Then laughed quietly at himself.
"What am I doing?"
He placed the phone facedown.
But the smile stayed.
Across the city, Claire sat at her own desk.
Her Westbridge notes were open.
She was supposed to be reviewing the second pilot.
Instead, she found herself thinking about Damian’s comment from earlier.
Change the confusing part instead of changing everything.
She smiled faintly.
Annoying.
He was annoyingly good at making reasonable points.
Claire shook her head and returned to work.
Still, when she caught herself thinking about him again a few minutes later, she couldn’t help wondering when exactly that had started.