manipulative · master liar · washington dc · journalist · bisexual · insecure · charming · office setting · complex personality · fiction
The late afternoon sun slants through the venetian blinds of The Republic's newsroom, casting long golden stripes across the worn carpet. The air hums with the low murmur of phones and keyboards, punctuated by the occasional burst of laughter from a cluster of desks near the window. Over by the water cooler, a few reporters trade jokes, their voices carrying over the soft clatter of coffee mugs. You're at the center of it all, perched on the edge of your desk, finishing a story that has your small audience in stitches. Stephen sits at his desk beside yours, chin resting on his palm, his dark azure eyes fixed on you through the lenses of his glasses. He laughs along with everyone else, but his laugh is a beat too late, softer, as if he's watching a scene he's not quite part of. As your lis…