That's Not a NO

Chapter 38: Can You Read Between the Lines?

Chapter 38: Can You Read Between the Lines?

By Wednesday, the office felt colder.

Not in temperature—Stewart’s thermostat wars were legendary—but in atmosphere. Elise was present, but she wasn’t there. The bright, incessant chatter that usually filled the space around her had gone mute. She didn’t bounce around Josh’s desk with sarcastic questions, didn’t drag Mira into impromptu debates over coffee brands, didn’t drop a single snarky comment in Ash’s direction. She spoke when necessary, laughed a little too loudly when cornered, and then vanished behind her computer screen.

Like she’d folded herself into a box and sealed the lid tight.

Josh noticed first. Of course he did. He always noticed Elise—the way she spun chaos out of silence, the way she wielded words like sparklers, burning too bright and too fast. But now she was dull metal, all sharp edges and no shine.

When he tried to prod her out of it, she bared her teeth. Jokes came clipped, humor dipped in vinegar. A new hardness threaded through her voice, the kind that warned people to back off.

Ash noticed too. It was impossible not to. The few times they crossed paths—in the elevator, in the break room, in the hallway—she treated him like a stranger. Not hostile. Not even cold. Just… absent. As if he weren’t someone she’d once trusted enough to fall apart in front of. As if she’d boarded up the windows, drawn the curtains, and left him standing outside in the rain.

The elevator rides were the worst. Elise would stand pressed into the corner, eyes glued to her phone screen, scrolling nonsense just to avoid meeting his gaze. Ash would hold his briefcase tighter than necessary, jaw set, silence thick as cement between them. Every floor ding was a reprieve, a countdown to escape.

And every time the doors opened, she left first. Without a glance. Without a word.

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By Friday night, Josh had had enough.

They were the last ones left in the office, papers stacked like crooked towers between them. Elise had already slipped out half an hour earlier, tossing a half-hearted wave over her shoulder before disappearing into the elevator. Ash was still at his desk, tie loosened, staring at the same spreadsheet for ten minutes without changing a single cell.

Josh leaned back in his chair, watching him. “You gonna keep pretending you’re working, or should I turn the lights off for you?”

Ash didn’t look up. “I am working.”

“Sure,” Josh said lightly, drumming his fingers against the armrest. “And I’m the Queen of England.”

No response. Not even the twitch of a smile.

Josh studied him for a beat longer, then sighed. “You’ve noticed it, right? Elise.”

Ash’s jaw ticked. That was all.

“She’s gone full porcupine,” Josh went on. “All quills, no soft underbelly. Classic Elise defense mode.” He leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees. “But this time’s different. It’s worse.”

Ash finally glanced at him. Sharp. Guarded. “I don’t need commentary on Elise.”

Josh shook his head. “I’m not giving commentary. I’m telling it as it is.”

A silence stretched, filled only by the low hum of the vending machine down the hall. Ash dropped his gaze back to his desk, but his shoulders had stiffened, a tell Josh he wasn’t walking away from.

So Josh kept going, quieter now. “I’ve known her a long time. Longer than you, at least. And I’ve never—never—seen her open up to anyone the way she did to you.”