Chapter 3 Chapter Three: Controlled Chaos
The office was already alive when Rowan walked in. Phones ringing. Chairs rolling across cheap carpet. Someone arguing, lightly, but still arguing, about a shipping timeline near the back. Normal chaos. The kind she understood. The second she stepped inside, something in her chest settled. Not completely. But enough.
“Morning!” Jess called, not even looking up from her screen.
“Morning,” Rowan replied, shrugging her bag off and dropping into her chair. The familiar creak of it was oddly comforting. She powered up her computer, the hum of it blending into the noise around her. Routine. Predictable. Safe.
“Okay, so,” Jess said, spinning around in her chair like she’d been waiting, “did you see the email?”
Rowan didn’t look up yet. “Which one?”
Jess stared at her. “You’re kidding.”
Rowan glanced over, one brow raised. “Jess. We get like a hundred emails a day. You’re going to have to narrow that down.”
Jess leaned forward, lowering her voice like it was somehow confidential.
“The expo.”
Rowan paused. Her fingers stilled on the keyboard. “…What expo?”
Jess made a face like she’d just witnessed something deeply offensive.
“The expo. Austin. Next month. Big deal? Vendors? Networking? Free stuff?”
Rowan blinked. “Okay, no, I definitely missed that.”
Jess groaned dramatically, already pulling it up. “Unbelievable. You’re the one who’s going to end up organizing half of it and you didn’t even read the email.”
“That sounds about right,” Rowan muttered.
The email hit her inbox a second later. She opened it, skimming.
Dates.
Location.
Booth setup.
Expectations.
Around her, the office energy had shifted. More animated. People are talking over each other now.
“Did you see who’s going?”
“If procurement screws this up again-”
“We need to actually bring decent samples this time-”
Rowan let the noise wash over her as she scrolled. She liked this part. Planning. Organizing. Turning chaos into something manageable. Her cursor hovered over the attachment.
Vendor List – Confirmed Attendees
She clicked it. Names filled the screen. Rows and rows of companies. Some familiar. Some not. Her eyes moved quickly at first. Scanning. Sorting mentally. Then, they stopped.
Blacke Industries
The name didn’t just catch her attention. It held it. Rowan leaned back slightly, her brow pulling together.
“That’s weird…”
Jess rolled her chair closer. “What is?”
Rowan pointed at the screen. “This company. Blacke Industries. Do we work with them?”
Jess leaned in, squinting. “Blacke…” she repeated. “No, I don’t think so. Doesn’t sound familiar.”
Rowan stared at the name a second longer. There was something about it. Something that felt… Her stomach tightened slightly.
“I don’t know,” she said slowly. “It just feels like I’ve seen it before.”
Jess shrugged. “Probably have. These vendors list get recycled all the time.”
“Yeah,” Rowan said. That had to be it. But the feeling didn’t go away. She scrolled past it. Forced herself to keep going. Focus. Work. Still…. That name sat in the back of her mind. Like something unfinished.
