Sunday morning. Westbridge Real Asset Partners.

Tak-tak-tak-tak.

The smell of strong coffee and the sound of typing never let up in Charlotte Bennett's office.

The hallway beyond the glass wall was quiet.

It was nothing like the scene on a weekday. There were no employees hurrying back and forth, no one with a phone glued to their ear hunting for a meeting room.

Only a few lights were on far off by reception, and the big office was so empty it felt much larger than usual.

Charlotte's desk, though, looked nothing like a weekend.

Each of her three monitors was packed with different material.

Photos of the building's exterior, the leasing status, the owning company's mortgage records and recent comparable sales filled the screens.

Beside them was a short note she'd written herself after getting home last night.

H.R!

Charlotte gazed at the two letters, then picked up her coffee cup and took a sip. The bitterness hit the tip of her tongue.

"'See you tomorrow'?"

The more she thought about it, the more absurd it was. Dinner had gone pretty well.

The conversation had been fun, and Ha Tae-ung had clearly seemed interested in her.

You could tell just from the way he met her eyes and batted her jokes back. At the very least, he hadn't seen her as just a real estate broker.

That was why she'd taken him to her regular wine bar after dinner.

It was a small place with no sign out front. You went down a narrow stairway to the basement and opened a heavy door, and low jazz and flickering candles welcomed you.

The owner recognized Charlotte and gave them a quiet table toward the back.

No one would bump shoulders with them, and they weren't close enough to the next table to overhear.

It was just right for two people to sit and pass the time.

The mood was perfect. Charlotte had made it that way.

She'd leaned in close when they chose the wine, and she'd even laid her fingertips lightly over his hand on the table.

When the music…