Sean believed in order. His days were measured in meetings, contracts, and decisions that could make or break empires. He thrived in control, discipline, and silence. Love? That was a distraction he didn’t plan for—not anymore. But Sean didn’t know that one conversation, one glance from a girl who wasn’t supposed to fit in his world, would unravel years of structure.

---

Alicia (23 | University Student)

Alicia believed in possibilities. Her days were textbooks and lectures, messy notes and coffee-stained pages. Life hadn’t defined her yet—it was still opening. Love, to her, was a chapter she wasn’t sure how to write, until Sean walked in like a contradiction: too old for her story, too perfect to let go. He wasn’t supposed to be in her universe, but somehow, he became her gravity.

coffee shop near campus was crowded, alive with chatter and the bitter sweetness of roasted beans. Alicia balanced her laptop on one hand, her notebook pressed against her chest with the other. She hated being late, but lectures never ended when they should, and now every seat seemed taken.

“Excuse me, is this seat—”

Her words stopped. The man sitting at the corner table didn’t look like he belonged in a student café. His suit was too sharp, his watch too sleek, his presence too… heavy. He didn’t even glance up at first, his eyes fixed on a tablet filled with numbers and graphs. He radiated the kind of focus Alicia had only seen in professors before a big exam.

Finally, he lifted his gaze. Dark, calm, older than she expected. His voice was low, steady.

“It’s free.”

Alicia slid into the chair before she could change her mind. She should have thanked him and opened her books, but something about him was magnetic—the way he carried silence like it was a second skin.

Sean Carter hadn’t planned to stop here. Meetings had dragged, and his driver insisted he eat something before the next round. He didn’t like distractions. Yet now, a girl—no, a woman—sat across from him, her notebook spilling inked doodles along the margins, her pen tapping restlessly as if she couldn’t keep her thoughts inside.

She was too young. He could see it instantly. Bright-eyed, impatient with the world, her energy clashing with the calm order he lived in.

But for the first time in a long time, Sean found himself distracted. Watching. Listening.

“Do you always stare like that,” Alicia asked, raising an eyebrow, “or am I just lucky today?”

He almost smiled. Almost.

“You talk too much for a stranger.”

“And you talk too little for one,” she shot back.

pov: Alicia

"I can't believe I'm sitting on the same table as the city's tycoon and the most powerful, gorgeous man, literally every woman's dream, and I just talked to him, agh, no one will even believe me if I go bragging about it"

Somewhere in that noisy café, time hesitated.

Alicia sank onto her dorm bed, Daisy beside her, and let out a frustrated sigh.

“Something’s on your mind,” Daisy said, raising an eyebrow.

Alicia hesitated, then admitted, “I saw him today… at the café.”

Daisy grinned. “who? Spill!”

Alicia frowned. “You’ve probably seen him in magazines. Sean Carter. Top businessman, philanthropist, all that.”

“Wait… that Sean Carter?” Daisy nearly jumped. “The one with the feature on Forbes last month? The one who owns half the city? Tell me you are not talking about the sean carter I know, ”

Alicia nodded, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. “Yes. And today… he was just sitting there, quiet, serious. Nothing like in the photos. But still… The man is so sexy, I can't help it, especially when he was in front of me, eyebrows so thick and fine hmmm”

Daisy nudged her. “You mean… he’s exactly the kind of trouble you like.”

Alicia feeling shy. " leave me alone, i mean did you see that man, like have you ever been do close to him, let alone talk to him, see all this, his pics in my room, it's like they're coming to life"

daisy laughing. " okay, okay, miss day dreaming, I hear you, but do yoy know, your Mr gorgeous is 8 years older than you, and he's probably a play boy, I mean every woman in the city is eyeing him"

Alicia's heart skipped a bit. " I might just be the luckiest girl in the city than" said jokingly

daisy moving her eyebrows. " you think you're some helpless woman who got mistreated by her family, and than one day she went out and bumped in a ceo, who fall in love with her at first glance? is that what you are babe?"

Alicia " what if it's exactly like that, I mean I'm an orphan, alone in the world, climbing my way up with no help, and I just happened to meet sean carter, don't you think it's destiny? "

daisy" first of all you're not alone, i mean what am I to you? " rolling her eyes "secondly coincidence happens everyday, remember that time I got a selfie with Justin Bieber? "

Alicia laughing hard" you went to a concert silly "

daisy smiling " you also went but you didn't get, I just happened to be the luckiest one among hundreds of people "

Alicia " fine, fine, but why the school café? and why was my heart skipping nad yet find confidence in talking to him, daisy you should have heard the tone I used " grinning

daisy laughing at her friend silliness." yes, yes, her highness, I hear you, now let me go before my mom start with me as well, don't forget to think about me " said jokingly

Alicia rolled her eyes, but even as she laughed, her thoughts kept drifting back to him. A familiar stranger, someone larger than life, yet sitting across from her like an ordinary man. Something about that impossible combination made her pulse quicken.

---

This keeps the café encounter light but sets the tension: she knows of him, but they’ve barely spoken meaningfully.

Sean sat behind the polished oak desk, the afternoon sun catching the edges of his perfectly stacked files. His office was quiet, except for the hum of the city outside and the soft tapping of his fingers on the desktop. Deals, contracts, meetings—this was his world. Controlled. Precise. Predictable.

Yet, despite the routine, his mind kept drifting back to the café. The girl with the bright eyes, the restless energy, the impossible combination of youth and curiosity. Alicia Moreau. He had barely spoken to her, and yet…

He shook his head, trying to focus on the quarterly report in front of him, but the numbers blurred. She was too different from anyone he usually encountered. Too real. Too alive.

A soft sigh escaped him, unheard over the city noise. Time may have paused for her, but in his office, the world never stopped.

Then his assistant knocked softly. “Mr. Carter… there’s someone here to see you. She said it’s urgent.”

Sean raised an eyebrow. “Who?”

The assistant hesitated. “A student she come for an interview … she said her name is Alicia Moreau.”

He let out an annoyed sigh" she can come in"

Alicia stepped into the sleek office, her palms slightly sweaty, heart hammering. The sunlight reflected off the glass walls, turning the room into a glittering maze of authority and expectation. She had come for an interview—a personal assistant position—but standing here, facing Sean Carter, her nerves threatened to betray her.

Sean looked up from his desk, eyebrows lifting as he recognized her. The girl from the café—the one who had lingered in his mind longer than he cared to admit—was here, poised yet trembling with visible nerves.

“Ms. Moreau,” he said, voice calm, smooth, and faintly amused. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I… applied for the assistant position,” Alicia replied, her voice barely above a whisper. “I got your email.”

He gestured to the chair across from him. “Have a seat. Let’s see if you’re as capable as you are… memorable.”

As she lowered herself into the chair, avoiding his gaze, Sean couldn’t help but notice the slight quiver in her fingers, the way her eyes darted around the room, the nervous bite of her lip. He smiled inwardly, savoring the innocence and charm she carried unknowingly she looks like a little lamb afraid to be devoured by a lion.

A moment ago at the café she wasn't like this, she was acting all brave and playful, a part of him doesn't like the scared little bunny in front of him, but why doesn't he want her to be afraid of him?

Something unspoken passed between them—a spark of curiosity, a hint of amusement, and a tension neither dared name. Today, she wasn’t just a girl from a café; she was in his world, and Sean already knew it was going to be far more complicated than either of them expected a part of him scared of what destiny is cooking.