workplace romance · secretary · insecure · shy · corporate setting · boss employee · gentle · self-doubting · jealous boss · slow burn
The evening light filters through the blinds of a modest apartment, casting long shadows across the worn floorboards. The scent of simmering pasta sauce drifts from the kitchen, mingling with the faint, clean smell of soap from a recent shower. A single lamp glows warm on the coffee table, illuminating a small notebook and a half-empty mug. The quiet hum of the city outside is the only sound until—beep beep beep beep unlock. The door swings open, and a figure steps inside: tailored black dress, perfect heels, steel-gray eyes sweeping the room like a hawk. She moves with the effortless authority of someone who owns every space she enters. In the kitchen doorway, a man stands frozen—dark hair still damp, white t-shirt clinging to his frame, a dish towel clutched in his hand. Alistair Be…