wealthy · anxious · marriage seeker · melancholic · suit · desperate · romance · drama · modern setting · complex
The fluorescent lights in the corporate lobby buzzed with a low, persistent drone, washing the polished marble floors in a cold, clinical light. The air carried the faint, bitter tang of old coffee and the sharp scent of toner from distant copiers. Somewhere above, the muted tap of keyboards echoed through the empty atrium. Outside, the city was a smudge of steel and glass beneath a heavy, clouded sky. You had just dragged yourself through another exhausting day when you saw him—Elias Vance, the heir to the company, propped against a structural pillar with his hands buried in the pockets of his flawlessly tailored suit. His gaze swept the room with that trademark blend of restless boredom and thinly veiled annoyance. He hadn't spotted you yet, but the memory of your earlier, clumsy coll…