After Office Hours

CHAPTER-SIX

The next morning, Aether Media Group returned to its usual chaos.

Phones rang.

Keyboards clattered.

Writers rushed between desks with half-finished ideas and too many deadlines.

But today, something new had joined the normal office noise.

Whispers.

Small, quiet whispers that travelled from desk to desk faster than any email.

And the centre of those whispers sat at desk twenty-three.

Nikos Stavros.

He walked into the newsroom with a coffee in his hand, looking surprisingly awake for someone who had left the office close to midnight.

The moment he sat down, Kostas rolled his chair closer.

"So".

Nikos signed.

Kostas leaned on the desk.

"You and Andreas stayed until ten last night."

Nikos blinked slowly.

"...How do you know that?"

Kostas pointed across the room.

At the coffee machine stood Maria and Sofia, pretending very badly not to watch them.

Maria waved cheerfully.

"We saw everything!"

Nikos rubbed his face.

"Of course you did.

Three articles had been edited.

Two had been rejected.

One intern had nearly fainted after making a formatting mistake.

But his attention kept drifting back to one desk.

Desk twenty-three.

Nikos was laughing at something Kostas said.

Completely relaxed.

Andreas frowned slightly.

Why did that bother him?

A knock interrupted his thoughts.

"Come in."

The door opened and Elias stepped inside.

Elias carried a folder thick with documents.

"I finished reviewing the corruption records," he said calmly Andreas gestured toward the chair.

"Sit."

Elias placed the folder on the desk.

"I noticed something interesting."

"Go on."

"That junior writer you assigned."

"Nikos?"

"Yes."

Elias leaned back slightly.

"He's good."

Andreas raised an eyebrow.

"You read his work?"

"I saw the draft."

"And?"

He noticed patterns the rest of us missed."

Andreas didn't answer immediately.

But internally, he wasn't surprised.

"I know."

Elias studied him quietly.

"You trust him."

Andreas shook his head.

"I trust the evidence."

Elias gave him a knowing look.

"Of course."

Across the newsroom, another conversation was happening.

At the social media desk, Sofia spun her chair toward the HR department.

"Eleni!"

Eleni looked up from her paperwork.

"Yes?"

"You missed the best gossip ever.Eleni sighed softly.

"That sentence alone worries me."

Sofia rolled closer.

"Nikos and Andreas stayed up late together yesterday."

Eleni blinked.

"...Working?"

Sofia grinned.

"Maybe."

Eleni shook her head.

"You're impossible."

Maria appeared beside them instantly.

"Don't listen to her, Eleni. I have reliable information."

Eleni rubbed her temple.

"Your information is never reliable."

Maria whispered dramatically,

"Andreas bought Nikos dinner."

Eleni froze....What?"

Sofia gasped.

"Wait you didn't tell me that part!"

Maria crossed her arms proudly.

"I observe everything."

Eleni tried very hard not to smile.

"That's... unexpected."

Sofia grinned.

"Oh this is definitely becoming a story."

-----

Meanwhile, Nikos was trying to work.

Trying.

But Kostas was still there.

"So," Kostas said again.

"Stop saying 'so.'"

"You like arguing with Andreas."I don't like it."

"You definitely enjoy it."

Nikos sighed.

"Can you let me work?"

Kostas leaned closer.

"Are you scared of him?"

Nikos smirked.

"Not even a little."

Right on cue-

A shadow appeared behind him.

"Mr. Stavros."

Kostas slowly turned his head.

Andreas.

Standing directly behind them.

Kostas immediately rolled his chair away."Good luck," he whispered.

Traitor.

Nikos looked up calmly.

"Yes?"

Andreas placed a document on the desk.

"You missed a detail."

Nikos frowned.

"I checked that twice."

"You missed it twice."

Nikos grabbed the paper and scanned it.

Then he groaned.

"...Okay that's annoying."

Andreas folded his arms.

"You were distracted."

Nikos glanced toward the gossip group across the room.

"They won't stop talking."

Andreas followed his gaze.

Maria quickly pretended to type.

Very badly.

Andreas sighed.

"Ignore them."

"Easy for you to say."

"Why?"

"They're not writing rumours about you."

Andreas raised an eyebrow.

"They always are."

Nikos blinked.

"...Fair point."

For a moment, both of them almost smiled.

Across the newsroom, Matteo finally arrived.

And like always-He arrived dramatically.

"Good morning, beautiful people!"

Several employees groaned.

"Too early, Matteo," Kostas muttered.

Matteo ignored him and walked straight toward Elias' desk.

Elias didn't look up.

"You're late."

"I'm fashionable."

"You're thirty minutes late."

Matteo leaned on the desk.

"You missed something interesting."

Elias sighed.

"I already know."

"You do?"Yes."

Matteo blinked.

"...That's disappointing."

Elias finally looked up.

"What do you want?"

Matteo smiled slowly.

"Lunch."

"No."

"Dinner?"

"No."

"Coffee?"

"No."

Matteo placed a hand over his heart.

"You wound me."

Elias returned to his laptop.

"You'll survive.But the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

And Matteo noticed.

Back at the desk twenty-three, Nikos suddenly slammed his notebook shut.

"That's it."

Andreas looked up.

"What?"

"This lead is wrong."

"Explain."

Nikos stood up.

"The documents don't match the timeline."

"We already discussed that."

"Yes."

"But now I know why."

Andreas stood as well.

Why?"

"Because the records were edited."

Andreas' eyes sharpened.

"You're certain?"

Nikos pointed at the numbers.

"Look at the formatting."

Andreas leaned closer.

And realized-

Nikos was right.

Again.

"You found that in ten minutes?"

"I told you I'm good at my job."

Andreas watched him quietly for a moment.

Confidence.Sharp thinking.

Stubborn personality.

This writer was unlike anyone he'd worked with before.

And he was starting to like that.

Not that he would admit it.

"Good work," Andreas said.

Nikos froze.

"...Did you just compliment me?"

"Yes."

"Wow."

"Don't get used to it."

Too late.

Nikos was already smiling.

Across the newsroom, Maria whispered loudly"Oh my God."

Sofia leaned closer.

"What now?"

Maria pointed again.

"They're smiling at each other."

Sofia gasped.

"This is happening."

Eleni covered her face.

"I work in HR. I should stop this."

Maria grinned.

"But you won't."

Eleni sighed.

"No... I won't."

And across the room, Andreas Nikolaou watched Nikos return to his seat.

Something about this writer kept pulling his attention back.

Confidence.

Defiance.

Energy.

Nikos Stavros had only been at Aether Media for a few days.

But already-

He was changing the atmosphere of the entire newsroom.

And Andreas was starting to realize something dangerous.

He was looking forward to their arguments.

----