Office Heat

Episode 3:Past Tensions, Present Stakes

As Ava jotted down notes, her eyes flicked briefly to Drew, who was now pacing the room, deep in thought. He looked effortlessly in control, but she knew better than to be fooled. Drew Carter wasn’t just charming,he was calculating. And he didn’t get to where he was by accident.

She remembered the first time she heard his name.

Two years ago

“Carter?” Ava repeated, narrowing her eyes as she sipped her bitter office coffee. “As in the new VP hire from Manhattan?”

Her coworker nodded. “Fast-tracked straight out of a luxury tech firm. Rumor is he turned down Google and still got a C-suite offer here.”

She’d rolled her eyes. “Of course he did.”

Back then, Drew Carter was nothing more than a walking resume with great hair. But then he started making waves—taking projects, building influence, turning heads. And the worst part?

He was good.

Not just good, brilliant. Bold. Quick-thinking. The kind of risk-taker who made people nervous because he succeeded when he shouldn't have.

Ava, on the other hand, had climbed the ranks the hard way. No fast-tracks. No executive mentors. Just long hours, brutal pitches, and learning to survive in rooms where she was often the only woman. She earned every inch of her reputation, strategic, precise, and utterly unshakable.

Her father had taught her early on: “You’ll have to be twice as sharp and three times as prepared, Ava. That’s how you survive.” And she had taken those words to heart, carrying them like armor into every boardroom.

Now here she was forced to share a campaign with the very man who represented everything she resented: privilege wrapped in charm.

But even as she tried to hate him, she couldn’t ignore the spark of something else. Admiration? Competition? Curiosity?

Damn it.

Meanwhile, across the room, Drew studied her in silence. He’d noticed the way her jaw tightened every time he spoke. The way she cut through inefficiency like a blade. She was impressive, more than he expected. More than he wanted to admit.

He had heard of her long before they officially met. Ava Monroe, the campaign whisperer. She never failed. He’d seen her name on memos, heard her strategies praised in meetings.

And yet, here they were—two people who couldn’t stand each other… but couldn’t seem to look away, either.

His past wasn’t as perfect as people thought. Sure, he came from the right schools, the right firms, but there was more to the story. A father who barely noticed him. A life mapped out by someone else’s expectations. Every move he made had been about proving he wasn’t just another silver-spoon exec.

He worked late not because he had to, but because failure was the only thing he feared more than boredom.

He wasn’t just here to win. He needed to.

And Ava Monroe? She was the first person who ever made him feel like the win might actually mean something.

Back at the whiteboard, she paused mid-sentence.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder.

Drew blinked. “Just trying to figure you out.”

“You’re wasting your time.”

He smiled faintly. “Maybe. But I have a feeling you’re more than what you show in these meetings.”

She met his gaze, her voice cool. “And I think you’re less.”

The silence that followed was thick, electric.

He didn’t look away. “Guess we’ll find out.”