Loving You Was Never The Plan

Chapter One: The Worst Day to Meet a Stranger The universe had jokes. Not the cute, "Oops, I spilled coffee on myself" kind of jokes. No. The "Congratulations, your entire life is about to become a Netflix series" type of jokes. And today? Today was apparently my pilot episode. "Girl..." Maya leaned across the café table, sipping her iced caramel latte like she wasn't about to ruin my peace. "...you're twenty-four, single, unemployed for exactly twelve days, your landlord has started breathing down your neck, and somehow you're still saying you're not ready for love?" I blinked. "I'm ready for money." She gasped dramatically. "See? This is why God hasn't sent your husband." "I didn't ask Him to." "You literally prayed last Sunday." "I prayed for financial breakthrough." "You added, 'and if a tall rich man wants to locate me, I won't complain.'" I immediately looked away. "...That was between me and God." Maya burst into laughter loud enough for half the café to stare. Embarrassing. I grabbed a sugar packet and threw it at her. She caught it effortlessly. "You know what's funny?" she grinned. "What?" "The rich man is probably somewhere looking for you while you're busy looking for job vacancies." "I'll find him after I pay rent." She laughed harder. I checked my phone again. Still nothing. No interview email. No job offer. No miracle alert. Even my bank app had become disrespectful. Available Balance: ₦2,483.17 I stared at it. The app stared back. One of us needed to apologize. "Don't look at it too long," Maya warned. "It gets smaller every time." "I noticed." We dissolved into another fit of laughter. For a second... Life wasn't so bad. Until my phone buzzed. Both of us froze. I looked at the screen. Unknown Number. Maya slapped the table. "Answer it!" "What if it's loan people?" "You don't even have enough money to owe anyone." Fair point. I answered. "Hello?" "Miss Arinola Daniels?" My back straightened. "Speaking." "This is Nova Holdings. We'd like to invite you for a final interview." Silence. My brain literally stopped functioning. "...Hello?" "Y-Yes!" "The interview begins in one hour." One... Hour? My smile disappeared. "Wait...where?" "The Nova Tower." My heart dropped. Traffic. Rush hour. Twenty-eight minutes away if God personally cleared the road. Forty-five if He didn't. "I'll be there!" The call ended. I screamed. Maya screamed louder. Then both of us realized— "I'M NOT DRESSED!" Twenty-six minutes later... Lagos traffic was behaving exactly how Lagos traffic behaves. Like it had personal issues with everybody. I sat inside a ride-share car, bouncing my knee so aggressively that the driver finally sighed. "Madam." "Yes?" "If you shake the seat any harder, we might arrive in pieces." "...Sorry." I checked the time again. Ten minutes left. Perfect. I was officially cooked. The driver suddenly hit the brakes. A delivery bike zoomed past. Coffee flew straight from my cup... ...onto my white blouse. Silence. The driver looked at me through the mirror. I looked at my blouse. He looked back. "...Jesus." That was all he said. I wanted to cry. Instead... I laughed. Because sometimes life reaches a point where crying becomes too expensive. Nova Tower looked like the type of building that rejected poor people automatically. Glass walls. Luxury cars. Security guards who looked richer than me. I jumped out of the car. Straightened my stained blazer. Whispered, "You've survived worse." Then sprinted inside. The receptionist smiled politely. "Interview?" "Yes." "Twenty-sixth floor." "Thank you!" The elevator doors were closing. "No, no, no!" I ran. Someone inside pressed the Open button. Saved. I rushed in without looking. "Thank you so much." "No problem." Deep. Calm. Male. Dangerously attractive. Why did his voice sound expensive? I looked up. Mistake. Big mistake. Tall. Black tailored suit. Perfect jawline. Dark eyes that somehow looked bored and amused at the same time. His sleeves were rolled halfway. A luxury watch rested on his wrist. He wasn't smiling. But somehow... He looked like the kind of man magazines wrote articles about. I immediately looked away. Nope. Not today. Men that handsome usually came with unnecessary problems. The elevator moved. Silence. Then... He glanced at the coffee stain on my blouse. "...Rough morning?" I forced a smile. "You could say that." He nodded. "I've had worse." I almost laughed. "You don't look like someone who has bad days." That finally made him smile. Small. Barely noticeable. But enough to completely change his face. "Dangerous assumption." The elevator stopped. Twenty-sixth floor. The doors opened. He gestured. "Ladies first." "Thanks." I hurried out. Without realizing... My résumé had slipped from my folder. He picked it up. His eyes landed on the name. Arinola Daniels. Something flickered across his expression. Recognition? Confusion? No... It disappeared too quickly. Before I could notice. Inside the conference room, six interviewers waited. I apologized for being late. They exchanged looks. One woman adjusted her glasses. "We've actually been waiting for one more person." The door opened. Footsteps echoed across the room. I turned. My stomach dropped. It was him. The elevator guy. Except now... Everyone stood. One by one. "Good morning, sir." Sir? He walked to the head of the table. Sat down calmly. Folded his hands. Looked directly at me. No smile. No amusement. Just unreadable eyes. One interviewer cleared his throat. "Miss Daniels..." "I'd like you to meet our CEO." Every nerve in my body froze. The CEO? The man I casually joked with in the elevator? The man who had seen coffee all over my shirt? The man whose expensive shoes I'd accidentally stepped on while rushing out? He tilted his head slightly. Then said the last thing I expected. "Interesting." His gaze never left mine. "I've been looking for you." The room went silent. My heartbeat stopped. Looking... For me? How? Why? And more importantly... What did I do? End of Part 1 of Chapter 1...