"You're fired!" The whole company went silent as the loud voice echo through the walls of their boss's office. Some stopped in their tracks to peek through the hallway to see what was going on which provoked the boss to yell. The door flew open causing the nosy employes to quickly flee from there before they too have to face their boss's wrath.

"Ma'am please...spare me this time. I swear this won't happen again. I was careless and-" he immediately stopped mid-sentence on receiving a glare from his angry boss.

"Did I stutter? I said you're fired means you're fired. Because of your carelessness we lost all the important documents I worked on for many sleepless nights and you still dare to give me those nonsense excuses!? Get out of here now!"

"Ma'am...I...I... okay I'm leaving. I'm sorry once again." The man quickly grabs his briefcase and leaves the room, not wanting to make her even more angry.

As soon as the man leaves, she grabs her phone and call the HR to get some work done immediately.

"It's Nyra Quinn speaking. Quickly put up a notice to hire a new assistant for me. Make sure they are qualified and fit for the role before you send them to me for the interview."

"Yes ma'am. I'll start working on this matter soon"

She hangs up the call and leaves her cabin for a moment to go out and get some fresh air along with a cup of black coffee to calm herself down after dealing with her former assistant.

She arrives at a nearby cafe after taking a short walk in the park then place her order and scroll through her phone as she waits for her order to be done.

The place was pretty crowded, customers going in and out nonstop, the tables filled and buzzing with low conversations and the whirl of machines. Nyra didn’t care. She was used to commanding boardrooms, a noisy café didn’t bother her.

She checked her phone again. Five new emails. One from the board. Two complaints from PR. She sighed and muted the notifications.

“Black coffee, extra strong for Nyra,” the barista called out.

She kept her phone inside her bag, stood up, collected her drink, and turned to leave but walked straight into someone. Not enough to spill anything. But enough to startle her, slightly. Her gaze lifted, sharp and cool, prepared to scold whoever had the audacity to block her path.

The man didn’t flinch.

She found herself staring at him longer than necessary. Tall. Clean-cut. Slate grey shirt rolled up at the sleeves. A hint of cologne sandalwood and something darker. Eyes so calm it almost irritated her.

“Sorry,” he said, breaking the intense eye contact first, voice low, smooth, steady. “Didn’t mean to get in the way.” His eyes found hers again. Nyra narrowed her eyes, expecting some flustered apology, maybe even a stammer.

But he just... watched her. Still. Patient. Almost like he was studying her.

“You work here?” she asked, not sure why. Curiosity maybe?

“No,” he answered shortly. “Just grabbing a drink." He looked down at her cup. “Black coffee. Extra strong.” He smirked. “You seem like the type.”

Her brows lifted. “Excuse me?”

“No offense,” he added, that smirk fading into a neutral mask. “It was a compliment. You look like someone who doesn’t need sugar to get what she wants.” she was stunned. No one ever talks to her like this. Especially not a stranger.

She should’ve walked away.

She didn’t.

"I would love to have a little chat with you but business calls. Gotta go." Before she could answer back, he interrupted her by grabbing his drink from the barista and walked past her without waiting for a response, disappearing in between the crowd before she could call out for him.

Little did Nyra know, that was just the beginning.