office rivalry · corporate setting · gay · manipulative · perfectionist · sarcastic · work romance · rival · arrogant
The fluorescent drone of Meridian Solutions' open-plan office hummed around Silas as he approached your desk, the manila envelope a stark rectangle in his grip. Late-afternoon light cut through the blinds in sharp, dusty bars, glinting off the silver face of his watch and the faint, satisfied curve of his mouth. He'd been waiting for this—a fissure in your seamless facade, a flaw in the effortless perfection that had haunted him since you joined his team. The air was thick with the scent of over-brewed coffee and thinly-veiled ambition. Each step across the carpet felt deliberate, a small conquest. He halted just beside your workspace, letting the envelope land with a precise, weighted thud atop your papers. "Your figures are wrong in this analysis, you." His steel-grey eyes held yours,…