JAY'S POV
The first week didn't give me time to settle—it threw me straight into pressure, expectations, and ten pairs of eyes waiting for me to prove I wasn't just a name attached to this collaboration.
A few exchanged glances.Good.Let them doubt me that way I'll have something to prove....
Work didn't start—it exploded.
Sketches layered over each other, voices overlapping, disagreements rising—but I didn't shut it down, I stepped into it, controlled it, shaped it.
"No, this looks safe," I said, tapping a design.
"It's wearable," someone argued.
"It's forgettable," I replied calmly. "Fix it."
Silence.Then movement.By the end of week one, they weren't questioning me anymore.
They were watching me waiting for that one moment I'd mess up but I was careful...extra careful....
And across every meeting—Every time I spoke—I could feel him,he was neither interrupting me nor interfering.
Just… watching.
KEIFER'S POV
She didn't hesitate.That was the first thing I noticed.No second-guessing.No over-explaining.No trying to please.
"This is been pushing forward too aggressively," I said in one of the review meetings, flipping through reports without looking at her. "Production timelines won't support this pace."
"This will be beneficial in refining the collection," someone from her team said.
I looked up.
"At the risk of delays?" I asked.
Her voice came immediately.
"At the risk of mediocrity," she said, eyes locked on mine. "Yes,but as for delay..my team and I ensure you that everything will be on time Mr.Watson"
There it was.That fire the one that I liked...bbut there's the thing I shouldn't have liked it as much as I did.
JAMES' POV
Week two?That's when I knew.
This wasn't normal tension.It was the kind that sits under your skin, quiet but constant, like both of them were aware of it but refusing to name it out loud.
I have been working with Jay Jay, for the past two weeks and all I hear her say "he'll regret challenging me!!!","ughh he's infuriating!!"
I could see the spark in each one of their eyes both his and hers ,whenever they go head on head...and as much as I don't like Keifer I could see the way he looks at Jay like she's his...the way he pretends to be cold and aloof and challenges her but secretly smiles when she goes off at him....
But I have also seen Jay feeling satisfied when she curse him which is funny because when you curse someone you feel angry but she feels satisfied....
"You hate him," I said casually, leaning against Jay's desk as she worked.
"I do," she replied instantly.
I nodded slowly. "Yeah… that's not what that looks like."
She didn't respond but she didn't deny it either and that was enough....
JAY'S POV
Late nights at the office became routine.
Not because I had to—Because I wanted to.
The office felt different after everyone left.
Quieter.Honest.A space which was only mine and mine alone with peace and ideas pilling on my brain as looked through the window towards the city buzzing with lights....
But that night—I didn't realize when I fell asleep.
One second I was sketching.Next—Nothing.
KEIFER'S POV
I came back to the office to grab some files because my assistant was sick apparently...when I walked towards my cabin,I saw Jay's cabin light on,her door was open and when I looks inside I froze...
She was asleep at her desk.
Head resting against her arm, pencil still in her hand, sketches scattered everywhere like she had been fighting with them until her body gave up.
I stood there longer than I should have.Watching.
She looked… softer like that.
I grabbed the blanket from the couch and placed it over her carefully, adjusting it slightly when she shifted.
She frowned in her sleep.Mumbled something.
"Still arguing even unconscious now Jaybird...," I muttered quietly.
Then I turned to leave and stopped..I looked back once..her sleeping softly...then I switched off the lights and walked out.
---
JAY'S POV
The next morning—I woke up my neck and back feeling worse.. Fuck I actually dozed off in the middle of sketching....
As I shifted and found my glasses ,I felt something warm covering me..There was a blanket over me.I thought about it because I was alone in the office so how!???
Wait
I checked the entry logs of last night of the floor access and the next thing I saw I stiffed.
CEO:Mark Keifer Watson ~12:09 am
Of course!!! Why him of all the people!!!
I foundy myself hanging onto the blanket clutching it with my hand and then I thought why would he do this!?? But I was greatful....
I got up and left the cabin went to the house,showered,ate,went back to the company everyone was here and so was he...
Later when I walked into the meeting and caught his eyes for half a second—
I looked away first because I couldn't stop replaying the log list ,his name,and imagining him putting on that blanket over me....
KEIFER'S POV
She noticed.Of course she did.She just didn't say anything and for some reason—That annoyed me more than if she had.
I could see the way her eyes drifted from me when she caught my eyes..Why Jaybird speak up!!!since when did you owe anyone favours!!!
---
JAMES' POV
Week three?That's when it got dangerous.
Because now—They weren't just clashing.
They were reacting like two bad chemicals mixed together which erupted into utter explosion....
"You're distracted," I told Keifer once, stopping him outside the conference room.
His eyes shifted to me slowly. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me," I said. "Whatever this is—handle it. Because she's starting to feel it too."
His jaw tightened.
"Stay out of it."
I smiled slightly. "Too late Watson.I know what you think,I have known and noticed you for a while now and trust me any man who sees you like this will understand in a damn second what you feel and most importantly for who you feel..."
JAY'S POV
The arguments got sharper.
"This doesn't work," I said, pointing at the lineup.
"It's already approved by the board team," he replied.
"And that makes it right?"
"It makes it final."
I stepped closer.
"Not if it's wrong."
His eyes darkened slightly.
"You're pushing too far."
"And you're not pushing enough."
Silence.Heavy.
---
KEIFER'S POV
She didn't back down.Not once and I kept pushing her.Not because she was wrong—
Because I needed to see where she would break.
She didn't..and that was the problem.
JAMES' POV
The fight?It wasn't sudden.
It was building for weeks and when it finally happened..It wasn't loud at first.
It was worse,these two were at eachother throats like they will rip it apart by their own bare hands...
One is a manchild.... not literally but provoking her at every point with dumb pointers and pushing her to her limits knowing very well what she can do is making him one proper of it and well...
One on the other side is one hell of hotheaded girl who'll eat up anyone who comes her way....
WOW they would actually make a good couple.....ayieeeee
JAY'S POV
Final week.Full team.Final lineup.
"This transition doesn't work," I said, pointing at the sequence.
"It's fine," he replied.
"It's not."
"It is."
I looked at him directly.
"No, it isn't. It breaks the entire flow."
His patience snapped.
"You think you know everything after one month?" he said, voice low but cutting.
"I know when something isn't good enough," I shot back immediately.
"Watch your tone."
"Then give me something worth respecting."
The room froze.
KEIFER'S POV
That was it.
"You walk in here and start changing everything like it's yours," I said, stepping closer. "You don't understand the scale of this."
Her laugh was sharp.
"Then explain it to me," she said. "Because right now? It looks like you're hiding behind 'scale' to justify bad decisions."
Silence.Dead.
JAMES' POV
"Enough."
I stepped in before it got worse.
"This isn't about the collection anymore,and don't you guys even try to deny it...," I said, looking between them.
And that?
That was the real problem.
They both went quiet but neither backed down.
"Guys,calm down,Mr.Watson I'll personally handle all the scale projections and revise all the plans again and give you a satisfactory answer by the end of the day..is it fine!?"
They both looked at me like they'll eat me alive,but I didn't give a fuck about it because the deadline was near and they were not about to mess up so many people's hardwork...
Then he very sharply acknowledged me "Fine,I want it exact by 5 pm not one minute more or less.Meeting Adjourned"
Then he left..and as I turned around to see her she was absolutely livid..her face was full blown red in colour and I most definitely didn't wanna be near that but I had to calm her down...
So with one last shread of my boldness I totally dragged out Jay Jay personally before she could throw chair in his face...
JAY'S POV
After that collision in the meeting we stopped arguing.
We stopped talking.
We just—Worked and coexisted.
But the tension?
It didn't go away it got quieter and heavier.
KEIFER'S POV
She stopped looking at me.
Focused only on the work,the team,the vendors and stylists,anything but me and I shouldn't have cared.
But I did because her ignoring me was killing me so bad...
---
JAY'S POV
The night before the launch—Everything was done.
Fifty pieces,ready and perfect just like I imagined..
I stood alone in the showroom, staring at it all, letting it sink in.
"It's done."
His voice echoed behind me.
I didn't turn immediately.
"Yeah."
A pause.
"You were right," he said.
I finally looked at him.
"About what?"
"The flow and the concept and the themes everything...."
I held his gaze for a second.
"And you were right," I replied quietly. "About scale."
Silence again.Different this time.Not hostile.Not sharp.
Just… unfinished.
I went closer to him and spoke the words I never thought I say to him,"I'm sorry Keifer,I should have understand you end of the contribution in sales,scale of this collab...I just want to apologise..."
And then I left quick as a daisy because I could stand there....just couldn't...
THIRD PERSON POV—
And that's how it ended between them in just one single month of working together—not with a victory, not with a loss, but with something far more dangerous: understanding.
Because in the end, the collection wasn't the only thing they built over that one month. Between late nights, sharp words, stolen glances, and silences heavier than any argument—they had unknowingly constructed something fragile, something unspoken… something that neither of them had been ready to face.
The launch stood the next day exactly as it was meant to—fifty pieces, flawless in execution, each one carrying fragments of both of them. Her vision. His precision. Her chaos. His control. It wasn't just fashion anymore—it was a collision, stitched into fabric.
And when the lights finally came on, when the world saw what they had created, no one would know what it took to get there. No one would hear the arguments that echoed in empty rooms, or see the quiet moments that softened edges neither of them admitted existed.
But they would.
Because even as Jay walked away that night, apology still lingering in the air, and Keifer stood there watching her leave without stopping her—both of them knew this wasn't over.
It couldn't be not when something had already begun and also when something was gonna happen that would probably switch their lives forever...maybe!?