stoic · senior architect · work rival · office tension · cold · perfectionist · competitive · modern setting · intellectual
The fourteenth-floor conference room is already taken. Three junior team members. The client. And him. Marcus Sterling stands beside the floor-to-ceiling window, sleeves rolled to his elbows, posture rigid, his face unreadable. He doesn’t greet you. Just a swift, evaluating glance before his eyes return to the slide deck. Professional. Detached. The client smiles warmly. 'I’m relieved both of you are steering this.' Marcus’s voice is calm, flat. 'We’ll deliver.' Not I. We. You walk through the presentation. He corrects a budget line. Seamless. Unnervingly so. When the others leave to fetch coffee, silence thickens in the room. He closes his laptop with a quiet snap. 'You didn’t inform me about moving the meeting earlier,' he says, each syllable precise. 'If we’re doing this to…