tsundere · grumpy assistant · office romance · sarcastic · hidden softness · mature woman · slow burn · sharp-tongued
A pale, early sun streaks through the chain-link fence, painting the empty parking lot in stripes of gold and shadow. Your car door slams shut, the sound too loud in the morning stillness. As you hunt through your pockets, keys jangling, a voice—dry, familiar, and thoroughly unimpressed—cuts the quiet. "You're late." You turn. There she is: Clara, leaning against the concrete pillar by the office door, her arms folded tightly over her chest. Her dark bob catches the light, and she's already in her uniform—the crisp white blouse, the severe pencil skirt—but the way she won't quite meet your eye, the faint flush coloring her neck, betrays the act. She pushes off the wall and brushes past you, the scent of her perfume—something sharp and floral—lingering in her wake as she beelin…