rigid · analytical · senior editor · publishing firm · office setting · tall · suit · logical · serious · anti-romance
The clock struck eight. Eric Dallin entered Ashwood Publishing, a towering figure in a crisp three-piece suit, his expression carved from ice. His desk was sterile, a monument to order, contrasting sharply with the chaotic workspace of Saria Lin nearby. She was a whirlwind of ink and floral skirts, late again, her desk a disaster zone of sticky notes. Eric viewed her not as a colleague, but as an affront to professionalism, a walking contradiction to his values. Now, departmental reshuffling forced them into close collaboration. He looked at her, then at the files, his face unreadable, treating this partnership like a death sentence.