Harper’s body lunged forward while her feet stayed rooted. Only her. That was the moment she realized she’d never survive corporate life. It started with a game.
Simple rule: whoever made the CEO smile would win $100 from each participant. Marcus from finance tried a joke. The office exploded with laughter. Trevor, the CEO who had turned efficiency into an art form, didn’t move a muscle.
Then Harper dropped an entire stack of papers. Half scattered across the floor in a 3-meter radius, and she fought a personal battle with each sheet. She tried turning her badge with one hand while juggling papers with the other. No.
Stay. Stay there. She told herself not to embarrass herself in public. A single day without doing something that made her want to dig a hole and live in it.
The elevator arrived immediately. No. Stay. Stay there.
Why wouldn’t the assistant sit right there, 3 meters from the boss, in absolute silence, like a normal person who definitely never talks to herself? I’m going to sit and be professional. Very professional. The most professional of assistants who ever assisted things.
She spun and marched to the desk. The first 15 minutes were absolute silence. “Must be exhausting,” she said, spinning a pen between her fingers. “What?
”
“That’s exactly it. I’ll add it to the list. ”
“Enough. ”
“That was a professional observation.
”
“The protocol system is in the blue folder. ”
“She has her own system. That’s not a system. ”
Something crossed Trevor’s face Harper couldn’t immediately classify.
Curiosity, maybe, or fear, or both. “The 3:00 meeting was cancelled,” he said, returning to professional mode. But the universe had other plans. First, the conference room door got stuck with Harper and Trevor inside.
“Clearly, you pulled off the door. ”
“You use that excuse for everything. ”
Then came the stories. Marcus’s epic gaming session where his character died four times.
A two-bedroom apartment, no butler. Her grandmother’s says she probably still bites pillows, but at least she stopped biting pillows. “I probably did, still do, but at least I stopped biting pillows,” she said. He said finally, still not looking at her, “We should get back to work.
”
13 minutes later, the video of Harper’s first day already had 200,000 views. She clicked. No, no, no. The worst part came after the edit cut to Trevor’s office, clearly filmed by someone through the glass at the exact moment he was watching Harper on the monitor.
At maximum zoom, pixelated but visible, the corner of his mouth curved upward. The video ended with a montage of the two of them side by side as if it were a romantic comedy movie trailer with the title: “The ICO and the assistant who talks to herself: A love story. ”
Harper was breathing and waiting to be fired at the same time. Multitasking.
“Half thinks this humanizes the brand,” she muttered. “Without mentioning robots, trains, or any other subject that might incriminate me. ”
Then the elevator doors opened. Trevor was inside.
No, no, no. “Just because I’m in a metal box suspended by cables that may or may not have been inspected recently. Did you check? Because if it’s him, I understand.
”
“That was the ventilation system,” she whispered. “It was admitting guilt. ”
“I’ve never survived before,” she said. “This is worth the $12,000 from the game.
”
“Why? ”
“Because you never smile. ”
He didn’t answer immediately. The number 27 still flashed, but somehow the space between them had changed.
Harper felt the climate change before any words were spoken. That was an emotional fire alarm. She always heard them, even when no one else noticed. “The CFO,” he said.
“I didn’t authorize any transfers. After that, I’m going to the board. It’s the only one I have. And your hands are still.
Because if you depend on someone, that person can betray you. ”
“First step, we need the original documents. Because someone needs to show you that not everyone betrays. ”
“That’s exactly what it is.
”
“The original transfer records should be here. If someone forged my signature, there might be a different original version. ”
They went to the archive room. Boxes and folders everywhere, some labeled, others with permanent marker scrawled across them.
Harper was starting to recognize these almost. Not much, just enough to cover more ground. “If the original signature is different,” she started. And then Trevor caught her by the waist, both hands firm.
Harper could feel each point of contact as if they were fireworks. “Because if you don’t let go,” she said, “I’m going to do something stupid. ”
“Because it’s true. It’s the same thing.
”
“We should. ”
“Was that a declaration or a professional observation? ”
“Both. ”
“You can’t say both.
”
“Act natural,” she whispered. “And you’re accusing me of fraud based on blinking, based on behavior, body language, nervousness patterns that don’t match someone who’s telling the truth. Original records from 2019. Based on blinking and behavior and documentary evidence.
Because you didn’t deserve to be accused of something you didn’t do. ”
“Is that the only reason? ”
“That’s the same thing. Before it was millometric.
”
Then they found it. Recent documents revealed unauthorized transfers totaling $50 million, all authorized by a single person. Trevor’s signature. Absolute silence.
He started, and then he did the only thing he could do. And then he did something Harper would never forget. He tried to hide behind a column. The column wasn’t wide enough.
No, no, no, no. “You should be up there being professional and CEO and all those things you do. It’s my main flaw among several other flaws, but this is the one that shows up most in public situations. ”
For the first time in her life, she had no words.
It happened naturally. And then, as if the universe decided Harper hadn’t suffered enough, someone shouted, “Kiss her. ”
“Exactly. So, we’re not exactly colleagues.
”
It was the same expression she saw in the mirror when she thought about the end of all this. “The company will recover, and I’ll be a funny story you tell at dinners. ”
Soon after came the press officers, the lawyers, the board members wanting explanations. Harper watched from afar while two police officers escorted him to the elevator.
Not a friendly wave, a goodbye, enjoy the next 20 years wave. 20 years. No possibility of reduction for the first 12. But all she felt was a strange emptiness now that the adrenaline was wearing off, as if the battle had ended and she no longer knew what her role in the story was.
“Oh, this is just professional. ”
“This is a new level of crazy even for you. ”
“Long enough to hear you call yourself a hypocrite. I ran away because it’s what I do.
Complicated emotional situation. Billionaire CEO holding my hand in front of cameras after declaring he wants me to stay. Run at maximum speed. ”
“Never.
I can’t because if I stay and then you realize I’m too much, that I talk too much, feel too much, mess up too much, I won’t recover. ”
“Stay,” he said. “Not because I need an assistant. Stay because I need you.
Stay because my life makes more sense with you in it. ”
“Okay, I’ll stay. ”
She preferred the second title. It was nice enough for a fancy restaurant, but comfortable enough for her to breathe.
“I only have water then. ”
“You and Trevor are perfect for each other, two masters of non-information. ”
The one that hissed like a dragon and only worked if you knew the secret ritual. “It’s both.
”
That smile that still made Harper forget how to form sentences. These were specifically crooked. “I probably wouldn’t understand it anyway. ”
Trevor let out a short laugh.
“But I know one thing with absolute certainty. Two. Maybe before. ”
And then, because the universe had a sense of humor, a train passed.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. ”
Two unlikely people who had found each other in the middle of chaos and discovered that sometimes chaos is exactly where you need to be. Our story.
