Chapter 3
859 Words
Emma didn’t wait to get home before calling Kiki.
The moment she stepped out of the office building, phone in hand, she dialed immediately.
📞 “Pick up… pick up…”
“Hey babe!” Kiki’s voice came through, bright as ever.
📞 “Kiki…” Emma exhaled. “You will not believe what happened today.”
“Wait—don’t tell me. First day stress?”
📞 “No. Worse.”
“Worse than first day stress? Ah ah, what did you do?”
📞 “It’s him.”
Silence.
“Who?”
📞 “The guy from last night.”
“Wait… what???”
📞 “He’s my boss.”
“Jesus is Lord!” Kiki screamed. “You’re lying!”
📞 “I wish I was.”
“Okay okay wait—start from the beginning.”
Emma leaned against a wall, running her hand through her hair.
📞 “So I got to the office… everything was fine. Then they said ‘the boss is here’… I turned to look and boom—it’s him.”
“Ahhh! Romance don start!” Kiki teased.
📞 “Kiki, this is not funny!”
“Okay okay, sorry. So what happened next?”
📞 “I said ‘you?’… and do you know what this man said?”
“What?”
📞 “‘I don’t recall meeting you.’”
Silence again.
“Eh?”
📞 “Kiki, he denied me. Like I was crazy!”
“Wait… the same guy that was smiling, winking, sending champagne?”
📞 “Same face. Same everything. But his attitude? Completely different.”
“Hmm…” Kiki hummed thoughtfully.
📞 “He was cold, Kiki. So cold. Like… ice.”
“Are you sure it’s the same person?”
Emma hesitated.
📞 “I… I don’t know. But it looks exactly like him.”
“So what happened after that?”
📞 “He called me into his office. No smile. No friendliness. Just rules, warnings… and attitude.”
“Hmmmm.”
📞 “Kiki, I feel like maybe he’s angry about last night.”
“Angry? Because you told him to come get your number himself?” Kiki laughed. “Please, that one is ego.”
📞 “I’m serious.”
“Okay, listen,” Kiki said, her tone shifting. “Maybe you should talk to him.”
📞 “Talk? To him? That man that looks like he hasn’t smiled since 2002?”
Kiki laughed.
“Explain yourself. Tell him last night wasn’t intentional.”
📞 “Kiki, I can’t even look at him properly without my heart doing somehow.”
“Emma…” Kiki sighed. “If you don’t clear it, it will be awkward every day.”
Emma went quiet.
📞 “I’ll think about it.”
The Next Day🍁
Emma got to work early.
Too early.
She just wanted to avoid… him.
But fate clearly had other plans.
The moment she stepped into the office—
She saw him.
Standing near the glass wall, speaking to someone.
Her steps slowed.
Her heart rate picked up instantly.
Why was his presence so… intense?
Even without looking at her, he felt
intimidating.
She tried to look away.
Tried to focus.
But somehow—
Her eyes drifted back to him.
Again.
And again.
Before she knew it, she was staring.
Lost in thought.
Confused.
Trying to match the man from the club… with the man standing before her.
It didn’t add up.
And yet—
Same face.
Same voice.
“Do you need something?”
Her heart skipped.
Emma froze.
He was looking at her.
Directly.
Oh no.
“I— I’m sorry, sir,” she stammered, quickly looking down.
His expression hardened.
“I’ve noticed this behavior,” he said coldly, stepping closer. “Yesterday and now today.”
Emma’s throat went dry.
“I don’t know what impression you have of me,” he continued, his voice low and sharp, “but this is a workplace. Not a social environment.”
“I understand, sir,” she said quickly.
“Do you?”
She nodded.
His gaze didn’t soften.
“If you cannot maintain professionalism,” he added, “then perhaps this position is not for you.”
Her chest tightened.
Fire her?
Already?
“I’m sorry, sir. It won’t happen again.”
There was a brief silence.
Tense.
Uncomfortable
.
Then he stepped back.
“See that it doesn’t.”
And just like that, he walked away.
Leaving Emma standing there—
Embarrassed
.
Shaken
.
And even more confused than before.
Emma slowly sat at her desk.
Her hands were slightly trembling.
“Okay…” she whispered to herself. “You need to get it together.”
But her mind wouldn’t rest.
Last night—
His smile.
His warmth.
Today—
Cold. Distant. Untouchable.
Two completely different people.
And somehow—
Both felt real.
Later that day, her phone buzzed.
📞 Kiki: “So did you talk to him?”
Emma stared at the message.
Then slowly typed—
📞 “I think… he might fire me before I even get the chance.”
- Writer
