Date: April 15, 2025

  I should have seen it coming.

  Everything up until now had been building toward something.

  I just hadn’t realized how fast the walls were closing in.

  Until today.

  Thursday Evening: Coffee Shots fired

  The office was nearly empty.

  It was late—too late to still be here. Most people had gone home, leaving only a few stragglers finishing up projects or waiting for the evening commute to clear. The usual hum of conversation and ringing phones had faded, leaving the space unnervingly quiet.

  I was at my desk, fighting with a piece of code that was eluding me. Leo lounged beside me in a high-end gaming chair he had definitely stolen from another department, spinning a pen between his fingers. He wasn't working, just loitering, being Leo --being a menace.

  “You’ve been quiet today, Spoon Girl,” he mused.

  “Exhaustion,” I muttered, not looking away from my screen. “Look it up.”

  Leo tilted his head, watching me too closely. “Or maybe you’ve just been distracted.”

  And just like that, he summoned the memory of the conversation we had in the hallway the other day.

  Of Leo standing too close, reaching down and flicking my ID badge.

  Try not to get distracted, yeah?

  Leo leaned in, fully aware of where my mind had taken me.

  My pulse quickened as I froze, too aware of the closing gap between us. And of course, that’s when Ethan walked by.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  He glanced at us, at Leo sitting too close, at me, frozen.

  Then, without breaking stride, Ethan reached out, picked up Leo’s coffee, and took a long, slow sip.

  I stopped breathing. Leo’s entire body went still.

  Ethan made a thoughtful noise, swirling the coffee in the cup. “Too sweet,” he said, casually setting it back down. “Figures.”

  Leo’s eye twitched.

  I didn't know how to react. Should I laugh? Should I gasp?

  And then, before I could process it completely, Leo stood up, got right in Ethan’s space. Over coffee?

  I panicked. “Oh my God, are you two seriously about to—”

  Leo ignored me. His eyes were locked on Ethan, jaw tight, challenging. “What’s your problem?”

  Ethan, completely calm, glanced down at Leo’s coffee. “Thought it was mine.”

  Leo scoffed. “Yeah? You make it a habit to take things that aren’t yours?”

  Ethan met his eyes steadily. “Nope.” His answer was pointed, his smile amused.

  Not over coffee.

  Leo let out a sharp laugh, but there was no humor in it.

  I opened my mouth, ready to tell them both to knock it off, but the moment I did, I realized neither of them was looking at me.

  It wasn’t about me anymore. They were locked into their own thing.

  Leo reached out slowly, deliberately and closed his hand over the top of the coffee cup, like he was forcing himself to stay still.

  Ethan just waited, smirking. Like he was hoping Leo would do something. And then, after a moment, he let go.

  Leo exhaled through his nose, then turned to me. “You seeing this?”

  I didn’t know what to say.

  It was a coffee.

  And yet I knew it wasn't really about the coffee.

  But it was still ridiculous.

  Leo shook his head, stepping back, but not before he shouldered Ethan as he passed.

  And Ethan just chuckled.

  I, on the other hand, was shrinking into my seat like I wanted it to swallow me.

  Evening Reflections

  I don’t know what to do.

  I don’t know what to think.

  Because this isn’t just a stupid rivalry anymore.

  This is affecting me.

  And that’s dangerous.

  I don’t want to be part of some weird office drama.

  I don’t want to choose.

  But I have a feeling that soon, I won’t have a choice.

  Mochi yawned dramatically from where she was curled up beside me on the couch, stretching one paw into my lap like she was claiming me as her own.

  I scratched behind her ears absently.

  For a second, I considered texting Naomi. Or Priya. Or even my brother.

  I picked up my phone, my finger hovered over Naomi’s name. Then Elena’s. Then Hiro’s.

  And then I locked my phone, sighed, and flopped onto my bed, staring at the ceiling.

  Would it be too dramatic to just move to Europe?

  A buzz from my phone tore me away from fantasies of boarding the next flight out of the country.

  [Mom: I have extra of that tea you like from Kyoto. Dad and I can drop it off for you this weekend?]

  My hands closed around my phone like it was a lifeline.

  [Me: Are you home on Saturday?]