🥀Chapter 08🥀

The door swung open.

And there he was. Finn Leighton.

In the flesh. He stood right in the doorway, He looked across the room with those pale ocean eyes, taking in the whole situation, the shelf, the floor, and the spectacular mess of white, purple, and gold pieces scattered all over his ash-colored tiles. He looked like someone whose first reaction to a surprise was never to make a loud noise.

The silence lasted for about five seconds.

Selene was already moving.

She got right on her knees next to the shelf, scooping up the broken pieces as fast as she could. Her white suit pants were dragging right against the floor, but she couldn't care less about that right now.

"It was an accident," she said, looking down at the mess. She grabbed the biggest chunks, moving fast because her brain told her that if she cleaned it up quickly, maybe it wouldn't be as bad. She glanced up at him for a split second. "I didn't mean to...it just slipped..." She looked back down. "I'm sorry."

Finn walked further into the office.

He moved like he had all the time in the world, with no rush and no drama. He took a few slow steps, looking down at the floor, then at her, and then back at the mess.

"Do you always do this?" his voice was totally flat, He sounded like a guy who was actively trying not to lose his temper, though he still had a edge to his tone. "Just walk into random offices and touch whatever looks cool?"

"I said it was an accident."

"I heard you." He walked over to the nearest couch and sat down, crossing one leg over the other. He looked totally relaxed, like he was about to start a normal business meeting and didn't care at all that his floor was covered in what used to be a super expensive piece of art. "That doesn't answer my question."

Selene pressed her lips together and didn't say anything.

She picked up another piece, and then another. She started stacking them on the bottom shelf, trying as hard as she could to look calm. She was absolutely not going to let this guy see her sweat, even though inside, she was totally freaking out.

Right then, the door opened again.

Noah appeared first. He had his glasses on, his tablet in hand, and wore the face of an assistant who had specifically warned against letting this girl into the office with the CEO not inside. He surveyed the mess like a true professional holding back a massive "I told you to wait downstairs." His eyes moved from the floor to Selene and back to the floor, with a look that said everything he wasn't allowed to say out loud.

Right behind him was a woman. She was Indian-american, but she carried herself with confidence.

She looked to be in her late thirties, with nice features and dark eyes that assessed the room and filed the details away in a split second. She wore a tailored blazer, she looked like someone who didn't dress up to impress anyone, but managed to impress everyone anyway.

"Noah," Finn said without looking up. "Get a cleaner."

"Yes, sir." Noah was already backing out of the room.

The woman sat down on the couch across from Finn, completely unfazed. "Morning, sir," she said. Then she looked over at Selene, who was still on the floor holding broken trash, with a totally blank, neutral face. She didn't look mean or judgmental, which actually made Selene feel even more embarrassed.

"Leave it."

Selene looked up.

Finn was staring right at her. He wasn't being mean, but he wasn't being nice either. He just gave her that attention that seemed to be his default setting for everything.

"Leave it," he said again. "Come sit down. We have things to talk about."

She looked at the broken pieces in her hands.

She set them down on the shelf carefully, creating a neat little pile that didn't actually fix anything but felt necessary to do. Then she stood up. She straightened her jacket, smoothed down the front of her pants, and crossed the room with her chin held high. She sat on the couch next to the woman because no matter what else had gone wrong today, she refused to slink to a seat like a kid sent to the principal's office.

The woman turned to her immediately, giving her a warm, clean smile.

"Good morning, Miss Calloway." Her accent was mostly American, but there was a tiny hint of an Indian rhythm underneath a few of her words.

"Good morning," Selene said, smiling back.

"Priya." She didn't give a last name, which told Selene she was important enough that she didn't need one here. "Mr. Leighton's legal counsel."

Of course. Selene gave a quick nod.

Priya reached into her organized bag and pulled out a clean file folder with perfectly straight edges. She handed it across the table to Finn.

He took it with one hand without even leaning forward.

He scanned the first page super fast. He read so quickly and easily it looked like he didn't even have to try. After a few seconds, he flipped to the next page and made a small noise in his throat, showing he was following along.

"Is everything good, sir?" Priya asked. She sounded confident in her work, but she was human enough to want his official stamp of approval.

Finn looked up from the folder.

"It's perfect," he said simply, without adding any extra praise. "Good work, Priya."

She gave a genuine, brief smile. She didn't need him to throw her a party for doing her job, and she appreciated that he kept it brief. "In that case.." She closed up her bag and stood up, probably had another meeting waiting for her right now. "I'll leave you both to it."

Finn gave her a single nod.

Priya grabbed her bag, gave Selene one more warm, neutral smile, and walked to the door. She looked completely at home in corporate spaces like this one.

The door shut softly behind her.

And then it was just the two of them.

Finn looked down at the folder in his hand, then looked up at Selene.

The office went completely quiet. Outside the huge windows, the city kept moving along, totally indifferent to them. Somewhere down the hallway, a phone rang twice and cut off.

He held the folder out to her across the table.

"Go through it." he said.