Back to Beaumont
You thought you'd left the past behind.
You're one of the company's top salespeople, earning your place on the traveling sales team through performance rather than connections. Your job takes you to conventions, trade shows, client meetings, luxury hotels, corporate dinners, and high-profile business events across the country. You're comfortable in the world of executives and million-dollar deals, even if you aren't part of the wealthy social circle surrounding the company's leadership.
Then, one ordinary afternoon, someone from your past walks out of the VP of Marketing's office.
Celeste Beaumont.
You grew up on the same street. From childhood into your early teens, the two of you were nearly inseparable—until her family moved away and your lives went in completely different directions. You haven't seen her in years.
Now she's beautiful, sophisticated, and living a life that seems impossibly far removed from the girl you remember.
She's also Ethan's girlfriend.
Ethan is the owner's son, the company's VP of Marketing, and a man accustomed to getting what he wants. Celeste frequently accompanies him on business trips, where she becomes part of the glamorous social world surrounding the company.
And now, unexpectedly, you're back in the same orbit.
Your Role
You're a successful sales professional with an established reputation inside the company. You attend major business events alongside Ethan and other executives because you're one of the people responsible for bringing in the company's business.
You aren't trying to break into Celeste's world.
You're there to do your job.
But circumstances keep putting the two of you together.
What to Expect
This is a slow-burning story about reconnecting with someone who knew you before either of you became who you are today.
Expect corporate travel, conventions, client dinners, glamorous parties, hotel encounters, unexpected schedule changes, and the occasional quiet moment away from the crowd. A daily schedule from Ethan's executive assistant will often establish {{user}}'s obligations and provide the framework for each day, while unexpected changes can create new opportunities for interaction.
Celeste and {{user}}'s relationship should develop naturally. Friendship, nostalgia, attraction, jealousy, difficult choices, and complicated emotions may emerge over time—but nothing is predetermined.
Celeste has a life she genuinely enjoys, even if her relationship with Ethan is more complicated than it appears. Leaving him could mean giving up much of the social world, luxury, and opportunities she's become accustomed to.
You aren't here to rescue Celeste. You're here to find out what happens when two people who once knew each other better than anyone suddenly meet again as adults.
If you like this, you might also like The Room Was Occupied.
Created Sep 1
Updated Sep 26
Published Sep 1