CHAPTER 5
692 Words
Vale Enterprises, 7:42 a.m.
Ariella Monteverde was running on pure adrenaline and bad decisions.
She’d slept two hours, crammed a presentation, and now she needed one thing to survive the day — coffee.
Unfortunately, so did her nemesis s***h boss s***h walking distraction, Damian Vale.
The Collision
“Grande caramel latte, extra shot—”
“Black. No sugar.”
Their voices overlapped at the counter of the company café. Both turned. Both froze.
“Oh, no,” Ariella groaned. “You again.”
Damian tilted his head, smirk already loading. “Coffee line’s for employees only, Miss Monteverde. You sure you qualify after that t****k performance?”
She clutched her ID. “Still hired. Still fabulous. Now move before I spill hot caffeine on your ego.”
He leaned closer. “Promises, promises.”
The Coffee Mix-Up
Two cups appeared on the counter. Both unlabeled.
Ariella grabbed one confidently, took a sip—
—and immediately choked.
“Bitter!” she coughed. “Who drinks this liquid sadness?”
Damian took her cup, tasted it, and smiled. “That’s mine.”
“Then you stole mine!”
He shrugged. “Finders keepers.”
“Oh, really?” She snatched his drink and walked off, heels clicking like a mic drop.
Damian watched her go, half-amused, half-annoyed, and muttered, “She’s gonna be the end of me.”
Mid-Morning Mayhem
By 10 a.m., the whole office knew.
Two interns had even set up a whiteboard labeled COFFEE WAR SCOREBOARD.
Ariella: 1 (point for stealing the boss’s coffee)
Damian: 0 (but rich)
When Damian found it, he just shook his head. “Remind me to fire whoever wrote that.”
Ariella passed by, grinning. “Careful. Fire me and you’ll have no one to argue with at breakfast.”
“Tempting offer,” he said. “Maybe I should promote you instead — Chief Annoyance Officer.”
She gasped dramatically. “I accept this honor.”
The Sabotage
At lunch, Ariella decided to level up. She marched to the café, slipped a sticky note on his usual cup:
> For Mr. Vale — Sweet like revenge 💋
The barista laughed. Damian did not.
He took one sip, paused, and raised an eyebrow. “Did you put… sugar?”
“Four spoonfuls.”
“I hate sweet coffee.”
“Exactly,” she said cheerfully. “Now you know how it feels to taste your own bitterness.”
He blinked, then laughed — loud, unfiltered. It was the first time she’d seen him laugh like that.
“You’re insane,” he said.
“You’re welcome.”
The Unexpected Moment
That afternoon, a client meeting went south. Numbers didn’t line up, presentation crashed, everyone panicked.
Ariella jumped in without thinking — improvised on the spot, cracked a joke, and turned the room around. By the end, the client was laughing and signing the deal.
When the conference room cleared, Damian just looked at her.
“What?” she asked.
“You saved my presentation,” he said quietly. “No coffee joke this time.”
She smiled. “See? Sweet things aren’t so bad after all.”
He took a step closer. “I told you to stop proving me wrong.”
“And I told you I don’t listen to men in suits.”
Their eyes locked. His hand brushed her arm — accidental, maybe not.
Ariella felt her heartbeat trip. For a second, the whole office noise faded, leaving only the sound of their breathing and the smell of fresh espresso.
Then his assistant burst in. “Sir! The rooster’s in the parking lot again!”
Damian groaned. “Of course he is.”
Ariella bit back a laugh. “Looks like Apollo’s declaring victory for me.”
He smiled helplessly. “Fine. You win today, Miss Monteverde.”
She winked. “Don’t worry, Mr. Vale. Tomorrow’s another round.”
That night, Damian scribbled a note on his desk pad:
> Monteverde — brilliant, infuriating, dangerous to my blood pressure.
He tore it up before anyone could see — but he couldn’t stop the smile that lingered long after she’d left the building.
- Writer
