Page 2 of The Five Stages of Courting Dalisay Ramos

With a breathy laugh, Evan nods. If he has one weakness, this is it. “Okay, I’ll take that bet.”

Evan’s still smiling even as he takes a cursory glance around the room when he notices an unfamiliar face. Overnight is arelatively small company, with fifty developers and even fewer editors, so seeing a stranger in a meeting of this scale piques his interest.

Like Evan, she seems to be in her mid-twenties. Her skin is light brown, and her long black hair falls below her shoulders. When she smiles with full red lips, her dark eyes brighten. She wears an oversized white button-up, with one corner tucked into tight black jeans, and ankle boots. The woman’s eyes flick toward him, catching him staring, and he tears his gaze away.

“All right, folks!” Overnight’s CEO, Naomi Ito, a smartly dressed Japanese American woman in her forties, claps her hands at the front of the conference room. “It’s the top of the hour. Let’s get this meeting started, shall we? Thank you all for coming,yadda yadda yadda. I know we’re updating the app today and we’re on a tight schedule, so without further ado …” She extends her hand to the new woman, who strides up to stand beside Naomi at the front of the room. Smiling, Naomi says, “Everyone, I’m very excited to introduce the new senior editor of the Urban Asia division, Dalisay Ramos.”

The office claps for her politely while Evan’s stomach plummets like he’s hit turbulence at cruising altitude and his whole body goes cold. This wasn’t how he expected to find out he didn’t get the job. Naomi gives Evan a slight nod when he catches her eye, a subtle acknowledgment, while Dalisay steps up to the front of the room as the applause dies down.

Dalisay doesn’t appear flustered talking in front of a room full of strangers. Confidently, she stands tall, smiling. “Good morning, everyone. I’m Dalisay. I moved here from the Philippines a few months ago, I’m a graduate of Ateneo de Manila University. Before this, I worked for Weisure, anothertravel app and … You’re bored already!” The room comes to life with polite laughter.

Makes sense. Overnight would want someone who is familiar with the region to be the senior editor. If Evan had known what he was up against, he wouldn’t have applied for the job. He never stood a chance. She seems like the perfect fit.

Watching her, Evan can’t look away. Heat rises from the back of his neck, and when he looks at Dalisay, his heart pumps like it’s trying to get his attention.

“Honestly,” she says, “I’m thrilled to join the Overnight team and can’t wait to work with all of you.”

Dalisay’s eyes catch Evan’s, and she smiles wider.

And Evan can’t help but smile in return.

By the time Evan finishes hitting send on his final email of the morning, he’s fully back in work mode. Being jet-lagged hardly slows him down. He’s already planned his next trip, a few days in an igloo hotel in Finland, for an article about unconventional honeymoon destinations.

Movement across the floor snares his attention. Dalisay. The new editor.

She walks along the outer wall across the floor, holding a mug and heading to the office kitchen. She’s smiling to herself, eyes down, and he wonders what she’s thinking about.

A voice in the back of his head tells him he should go talk to her, introduce himself, but another, louder, and more annoying voice tells him to ask her out for coffee.

Evan’s heart has made a home in his throat and he swallows it back down. Ask her out? That’d be ridiculous. They’venever spoken to each other. But he can’t ignore the way his heart nearly jackhammered out of his chest when they locked eyes. He’s never had a heart attack, but he bets it was close enough. Her smile might crack his rib cage in two. He’s never believed in love at first sight; that’s the stuff of poetry. (Plus, he’s always been more of a high-fantasy guy anyway.) He does, however, believe in attraction at first sight, the feeling as solid as a roundhouse kick to the sternum. With her dark hair, and that smart gleam in her eye, and damn, hersmile… It’s a megawatt smile that makes everything brighter. What he wouldn’t give to see more of it.

Before he realizes it, he’s standing and following Dalisay to the kitchen. When he passes Riggs’s desk, Riggs gives him a curious glance, but Evan doesn’t turn back. He has to introduce himself at least.

When he enters the kitchen, he finds Dalisay alone. She’s organizing the sugar packets, putting everything into neat stacks. Kitchen upkeep is a job for one of the interns, but Dalisay hums happily to herself while she does it, waiting for the stainless-steel kettle to boil. When she taps all the packets into a straight row, Evan can’t help but notice a flash of silver on her hand, but on a second glance, it’s a dainty silver band with an infinity loop around her middle finger. Not an engagement ring.

But what if she has a boyfriend? Or a girlfriend? Someone that gorgeous has to be in a relationship. He’s not a homewrecker. Suddenly, his nerve starts to dwindle.Come on, get a grip, he tells himself.You’re saying hello to a new colleague, not proposing. Be normal, idiot.

But Dalisay glances up when she hears him enter and smiles. When she does, he knows how the water in that kettlefeels, full of potential energy waiting to bubble over. With a deep breath, he walks toward her, but navigates to the cupboards instead. Being this close to her, he can smell her perfume, and it makes the world spin. Orange blossoms, like a summer in Capri.

“Hi,” he says, giving her what he hopes is an easy smile.

Her eyes dart to him, and she tucks a ribbon of black hair behind her ear. “Hey.”

She goes back to sorting the sugar and sweeteners, and Evan tries not to stare. He grabs a mug from the cupboard and dollops some honey into the bottom. He silently offers her some, and she nods, giving another smile.

“Dalisay, right?” he asks.

“Yes, I think I saw you at the meeting.”

“I’m Evan.”

“Oh! Of course! Evan Saatchi. You must be the one I’ve heard so much about. European team, yes?”

“Yeah, I just got back from Paris. Seriously, only a couple hours ago.”

She juts out her lower lip, impressed. “You’re holding up well,” she says, stowing away the rest of the packets, neat and tidy, and color-coordinated.

“Barely.”

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