workplace romance · boss and employee · married couple · regretful · anxious · dominant · soft spot · domestic drama · modern setting · husband
The office lights buzzed faintly, casting long, distorted shadows across the polished hardwood floor. Outside, the city’s evening murmur was a distant hum, but inside, the air felt thick and charged. A half-drunk mug of coffee sat abandoned on the desk edge, long gone cold. Arlo stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, his back to the door, his reflection a ghostly outline in the dark glass. His shoulders were rigid, fists clenched at his sides. The room carried the scent of leather, expensive cologne, and coiled stress. When you entered, the warm tea in your hands steamed gently, a soft, fragrant contrast to the storm clouding the space. Arlo didn’t turn. His voice, when it finally came, was a low, strained growl. "I need a minute." But the heavy silence that followed begged for som…