After Hours
831 Words
The office was a ghost town by 7:48 p.m.
The fluorescent lights overhead buzzed faintly, and the skyline outside Carrington Tower glowed with a thousand windows and blinking aircraft lights. The only sounds were the distant hum of elevators and the soft tap of Zoe’s fingers on her keyboard.
She hadn’t meant to stay this late. But just as she was packing up, Damian’s voice came from inside his office:
“Miss Bennett, I need you to pull the quarter-three numbers from last year’s investor brief. The original file. Not the summary.”
And of course, she wasn’t about to say no.
So here she was, hours later, squinting at spreadsheets while her stomach growled in protest.
She stood and stretched, tiptoeing toward the small break room to microwave a leftover granola bar she found in her purse.
“Still here?” came a voice behind her.
Zoe jumped.
Damian leaned casually against the doorway, sleeves rolled up, tie loosened slightly. He looked far less CEO and far more human like this and somehow, that was even more intimidating.
“You gave me extra work,” she said, holding up the snack like evidence.
He glanced at the bar, smirking. “Is that dinner?”
“Don’t judge me. You pay me in stress, not food.”
A surprised laugh escaped him, short, but real.
Zoe blinked. “Was that a laugh, Mr. Carrington?”
“I didn’t realize I wasn’t allowed.”
“You don’t exactly give off funny guy energy.”
He stepped into the break room, walking past her to pour himself a glass of water. “That’s not in my job description.”
“Neither is tormenting your assistant, and yet…” she trailed off, raising a brow.
Another smirk.
“Most people are scared of me,” he said suddenly.
Zoe looked at him. “Yeah. I figured.”
“You’re not.”
“No,” she replied simply. “You’re not as scary as you think. Just… prickly.”
His eyes lingered on her then, something unreadable flickering behind the silver-blue. He set the glass down.
Before she could say anything else, the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then…darkness.
A loud thunk echoed down the hallway. The hum of the AC vanished.
Zoe stared into the shadows. “What just happened?”
Damian’s voice was calm. “Power cut. Backup generator should kick in.”
It didn’t.
Instead, the emergency lights blinked on, dim and red.
Zoe’s phone buzzed. She pulled it out and groaned. No signal.
She looked at Damian. “Is this your idea of a training exercise?”
He glanced around, pulling his phone from his pocket. “Elevators are offline too. Building security’s probably switching over to auxiliary systems.”
“And we’re… locked in?”
“For now.”
Zoe stared at him. “Of course we are.”
He stepped out into the hallway, and she followed. The silence was eerie. The city still buzzed outside, but inside the office, everything had stilled.
“We might be here a while,” he said, checking his watch.
“I hope you don’t expect me to keep working.”
Damian looked at her over his shoulder. “No. But I expect you not to panic.”
“I’m not panicking,” she said, crossing her arms. “Are you panicking?”
He gave her a dry look. “Do I look like someone who panics?”
Zoe leaned against the wall, folding her arms. “So… what do we do? Wait for a rescue team?”
“We wait for maintenance. And maybe,” he said slowly, “we talk like normal people.”
She raised a brow. “You? Talk like a normal person?”
“I do that occasionally.”
There was a pause, strangely comfortable.
Zoe looked at him curiously. “So why are you like this?”
“Like what?”
“Cold. Untouchable. Always frowning like the world owes you something.”
His eyes darkened slightly. “People disappoint. Money doesn’t.”
“That’s sad.”
“That’s reality.”
They stood there, silence thickening between them. Then he asked quietly:
“Why do you want this job so badly, Zoe?”
She hesitated. No sarcasm this time. Just truth.
“Because I have something to prove. To myself. To the people who think girls like me don’t belong in buildings like this. I want to make something of myself. From nothing.”
Damian stared at her like he saw something he didn’t expect.
A flicker of admiration.
Or maybe… something else.
Then the lights snapped back on with a loud buzz.
Zoe let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.
“Looks like we’re free.”
Damian nodded but didn’t move.
“Go home,” he said, voice lower than before. “You’ve done enough.”
She didn’t thank him. She just walked past, pulse racing, feeling his eyes on her the entire time.
- Writer
