Behind the wall

Episode 5

Office hours were over, and the parking lot was almost empty when Victoria stepped out of the building, heels clicking sharply against the wet pavement. Her eyes landed on her car, and the scratch on the side of the door stopped her dead in her tracks.

“What the hell?” she muttered, walking closer. The thin, ugly line across the paint made her chest tighten. That car wasn’t just transport, it was her pride, her luxury, her escape.

“Daniel!” she called, voice sharp.

Daniel, who had been standing near the car waiting, stiffened. “Yes, ma’am?”

She pointed to the scratch. “What happened here?”

Daniel shifted uneasily, avoiding her gaze. “It’s… nothing serious. Just… just an accident.”

Her brows furrowed. “Accident? What kind of accident, Daniel? Who did this?”

He swallowed, words caught in his throat. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her about Marcus, about the sneer, the deliberate scrape of keys against her paintwork. She’d never believe Marcus capable of such pettiness, and he’d look like a jealous liar.

“Daniel,” she snapped. “Are you lying to me right now?”

He stayed silent.

That silence was louder than any excuse. Fury burned in her veins, not at the scratch, but at the thought of her driver lying to her face. Without another word, she stormed off, heels echoing like gunshots.

The next morning, Daniel parked the car carefully outside the office. Victoria was already waiting.

“Come with me,” she ordered curtly.

Inside her office, her assistant, Elaine handed her a neatly typed paper. Victoria didn’t look at Daniel as she spoke.

“This is your first written warning. A reminder that you’re not here to be my friend. You are my employee, Daniel. And as my employee, I expect you to protect what I value, especially my car. Do I make myself clear?”

Daniel stared at the paper, lips pressed in a thin line. He felt the words he wanted to say, the truth, burning in his chest, but he swallowed them down. He said nothing.

“Dismissed,” Victoria said coldly.

Daniel left quietly, the weight of unspoken words heavier than the paper in her hands.

By afternoon, Victoria had to attend a high-stakes meeting. She and her assistant Elaine hurried to the exit, only to stop short. Rain poured down outside, sheets of water flooding the street.

Victoria glanced around impatiently, but her eyes caught on a figure by the roadside. Daniel.

He wasn’t at the car. He was helping a street vendor, an old woman, struggling to cover her fruit baskets with plastic sheets. Daniel lifted the crates himself, carrying them under a nearby awning so her goods wouldn’t be ruined by the storm. His shirt clung to his body, muscles taut as he moved with an ease that drew Victoria’s reluctant gaze.

Elaine smirked. “You’re staring, boss. You look at that man like he’s dessert ready to be devoured.”

Victoria snapped her head toward her. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m already seeing someone, remember?”

“Uh-huh,” Elaine teased knowingly.

Before Victoria could retort, Daniel jogged over to them, drenched from the rain, holding an umbrella above his head. Water ran down his face, his soaked T-shirt outlining the hard lines of his chest and six-pack.

“Sorry about that, ma’am,” Daniel said, voice steady despite his shiver. “Can I take you to your destination now?”

Victoria’s eyes betrayed her for a split second, drawn to the strength beneath the fabric, the way the rain had sculpted every detail of him. A strange, unfamiliar urge stirred within her, she wanted to reach out, to touch him, to close that impossible distance.

But her mask slipped back into place. Without a word, she brushed past him, heels clicking against the wet floor as she slid into the car.

Daniel closed the umbrella, his jaw tightening as he climbed into the driver’s seat.

And Victoria, though she didn’t dare admit it, felt her heartbeat racing in ways it hadn’t in years.