เข้าสู่ระบบNora's POVThe moment I shut my apartment door behind me, I leaned against it and closed my eyes.Then groaned."Oh my God!!!"I covered my face with both hands, standing there like an idiot in my own hallway."What are we?"I said it out loud, heard how it sounded, and immediately wished I hadn't."Why would I say that????" I muttered, pushing myself off the door and walking toward my room. "Out of everything. And that was what came out????"Not goodnight. Not thank you for dinner. Not even a normal, functional goodbye like a normal, functional person. No. I had looked directly at Cael Draven and asked what we were like some confused teenager who'd never spoken to a man before.I dropped face-first onto my bed."Smooth, Nora. Very smooth!"I stayed like that for a solid minute before rolling onto my back and staring at the ceiling. The embarrassment hadn't faded at all, which was annoying, because embarrassment was supposed to get smaller the more you thought about it.This one kept
Cael's POV"What are we?"For a second I just looked at her.The streetlights cast soft shadows across her face, her eyes fixed on me, waiting. Nervous, curious, maybe a little scared too. The question hung between us like something neither of us was quite ready to deal with.I could answer it. I should.But the problem was that Nora still didn't know anything. Not really. She didn't know who I was outside that office, didn't know what I was, and if she knew the truth right now, standing outside her building with that look on her face, I genuinely wasn't sure what would happen.So instead of answering, I smirked. Because if I didn't, I was probably going to say something reckless. Something I wasn't supposed to say yet."You already know the answer."Her eyebrows pulled together immediately."What? What does that even mean?"I almost laughed. Of course that was her reaction. I stepped closer, not enough to crowd her, just enough."Goodnight, Nora."Her eyebrows pulled in confusion. "
The smile slid off my face before I even realized it was gone, and the whole café seemed to go very quiet around us.For a few seconds I just stared at him. Out of everything I expected him to ask tonight, that wasn't one of them.My father.I let out a small laugh, not because it was funny, mostly because I suddenly didn't know what to do with myself. I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms."Why?"Cael looked at me calmly."What do you mean?""Why are you asking?"He stayed quiet, which only made me narrow my eyes further."No, seriously." I pointed at him. "Why are you interested?"His mouth curved slightly."Curious."I scoffed."Curious?""Hm."I stared at him for a second, then shook my head."No. You're not doing that.""Doing what?""Acting innocent." I leaned forward slightly. "This is not how a relationship between an employer and a worker should be."His eyebrows lifted."A worker?""Yes."He looked thoughtful for exactly one second, then the smirk came. Dangerous. Abs
I was asleep, properly asleep, the kind that only comes after weeks of stress finally let go of your neck. The company had given everyone the day off after the Meridian win, apparently saving them millions came with perks, and for once I had nowhere to be.Just what I needed!My phone started ringing somewhere in the mess of my blanket.I ignored it. It rang again. I pulled the pillow over my head and it rang a third time, more annoying than the last.Whoever it was clearly had no respect for sleeping people.I grabbed it without even opening my eyes."What?""Knew you'd be asleep."My eyes snapped open.Cael.I sat up so fast I nearly dropped the phone, then looked at the clock and nearly screamed. Two in the afternoon. I had slept until two in the afternoon."Oh my God.""Good morning to you too," he said, sounding far too pleased with himself.My mouth was open. I didn't know what to say!! "What time is it?""You just answered your own question."I groaned and covered my face with
Nora's POVI should have gone home. That was my first mistake. The second mistake was letting Blake drag me toward the restaurant everyone had chosen for the celebration. The third mistake was walking inside."Nora!"I winced immediately.The entire table erupted the second they saw me.Blake pointed dramatically."There she is! The woman of the hour!"Several people clapped, someone even whistled."Oh God," I muttered.I was already trying to back away when Blake caught my arm."Absolutely not.""Blake.""No."I sighed. "I want to go home.""No.""I've had a long day.""Which is exactly why you're staying."I scoffed.Around the table sat nearly everyone from the Meridian team. Blake, Claire from Legal, Ryan from Procurement, Jenny from Marketing, Tunde from Analytics. Even two people from departments I barely worked with.Everybody looked excited, everybody looked exhausted, everybody looked determined to celebrate."You can't leave," Claire complained. "We literally won because of
For the first time in what felt like forever, the tension inside the conference room was gone.The Meridian presentation was over, the clients had left, the discussions were finished. And everyone was waiting.Nobody wanted to say it out loud yet, nobody wanted to celebrate too early. But the entire room felt different.Hopeful, nervous. Absolutely excited.I sat quietly near the end of the table, trying not to stare at my phone every five seconds.My eyes burned from lack of sleep, my head still hurt from crying the night before. And somehow, despite all of that, my stomach was twisted into knots.Mr. Shawn stood near the projector speaking with two senior managers.Sienna sat across the room scrolling through her phone, her face looked tight, annoyed. Every few seconds she glanced toward me.I ignored her. At this point, I was tired of caring.The presentation was done. I had given everything I had. If Meridian failed, at least I knew I couldn't have done more.A few minutes later,







