Episode Four: Overheard Excitement

Sean watched quietly from behind his door as Alicia’s eyes widened, disbelief and joy flashing across her face.

“You’re giving me the job?” she whispered, voice trembling.

“I am,” he replied smoothly, leaning against the desk. “You start Monday.”

Alicia’s lips parted in a small gasp. She couldn’t contain herself. Pulling her phone from her bag, she quickly dialed Daisy.

“Daisy! You won’t believe it!” Alicia whispered excitedly, pacing slightly. “I got the job! Sean Carter—yes, that Sean Carter—hired me as his personal assistant! Can you imagine?”

Sean, standing just behind the door, suppressed a smile. The way her eyes sparkled, the animated gestures of her hands, the excitement that made her so human—it was intoxicating. He had expected competent, professional assistants; what he hadn’t expected was her, a girl who could make a boardroom titan pause without even trying.

He knew he should maintain distance. He was her boss. He had rules, boundaries, experience. Yet as he listened, a small, unbidden thought crossed his mind: what if this assignment wasn’t just professional? What if the girl who made him notice time itself—who made him linger over small expressions—was going to challenge him in ways he hadn’t anticipated?

Alicia laughed into the phone, oblivious to the man she was describing in real time. Sean let the sound linger, silently savoring the rare, unguarded version of her—the girl from the café, the bright, nervous, magnetic girl who had somehow entered his meticulously ordered world.

Caught (Expanded)

Sean hadn’t expected anyone to walk in. He was leaning casually against the wall outside his office, watching Alicia, utterly captivated by her shy excitement as she talked on the phone.

“Seriously?” a voice said, startling him.

He spun around to find Mathew, his childhood friend and longtime partner-in-crime, leaning against the doorway, arms crossed. Sean froze.

“What… how long have you been standing there?” he asked, flustered.

Mathew raised an eyebrow, smirking knowingly. “Long enough to see the legendary Sean Carter—Mr. Untouchable, Mr. Boardroom Titan—grin like an idiot.”

Sean’s jaw tightened. “I… it’s nothing. Just observing.”

“Observing?” Mathew repeated, stepping closer. “Dude, you’re smiling. At her.”

Sean opened his mouth to protest, but no words came. He had spent thirty-one years guarding his expressions, hiding his thoughts, and yet here he was, caught in the open, fascinated by a twenty-three-year-old girl.

As he glanced back toward Alicia through the glass door, he couldn’t help but notice how the sunlight highlighted the curve of her cheek, how her brows furrowed slightly as she concentrated, how her laughter was soft and unrestrained. Something about her made the world slow down. Made him slow down.

Mathew shook his head, still grinning. “Never thought I’d see you like this. Honestly, it’s kind of… refreshing.”

Sean muttered under his breath, “Refreshing or humiliating?”

“Depends,” Mathew replied, clapping him on the shoulder. “But one thing’s for sure—you’re in trouble, my friend.”

Sean could only watch, dumbfounded, as Mathew left, leaving him with thoughts of Alicia and a smile he couldn’t hide—even if he wanted to. For the first time in years, Sean felt something beyond control and discipline—a pull toward someone who wasn’t supposed to be in his world, and yet was already occupying it entirely.

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