Chapter One
Wednesday, 7:20 AM
Late again, are we. Surprised? I think to myself as my carry-on hits the side of the café door hard enough to send my laptop bag strap sliding off my shoulder. I curse under my breath. Two time zones, three hours of sleep, and a presentation in thirty minutes that I definitely need to look over again. But I have priorities, and right now those include coffee, the good kind. Not the airport one or the instant packets in my hotel room, I need the real deal, which is why I’ve hauled my heavy bags to the nearest overpriced café and am perfectly willing to let it rob me of my hard-earned money.
“Large vanilla latte, double shot, soy milk,” I rattle off to the barista and scan the pastry selection. Nothing I can stomach this early. I stick to a sad-looking wrap, adding it to my order, and grimace at it on principle. I drag my carry-on to the side, sitting on it, my shoulders are done, and pull out my tablet to review my schedule while I wait.
Six emails since I got off the plane. The Toronto client wants to move tomorrow’s presentation up by three hours.
Wanderful. Just amazing.
“Sorry” I hear just as I almost knock a drink off the pickup counter, both of us reaching for the coffees at the exact same time. We laugh, well, he laughs. Mine comes out more awkward than actual laughter.
“Sorry, go ahead,” he says, stepping back.
I lift the nearest cup. “This one’s yours actually, Kieran?”
He’s attractive. Hot in that suit-and-tie way that looks intentional. Gentle eyes that look exhausted, to be fair it’s 7 AM on a random Wednesday, we’re all exhausted. Early thirties, maybe late twenties. No wedding ring. My own brain surprises me, the information whispering itself in before I asked for it.
“Thanks.” He takes the cup and our fingers brush for a few seconds. His hands are cold.
I grab my actual order right after, attention already back on my presentation notes. I have the urge to throw my tablet when I look at my overbooked schedule, meeting after meeting stacked like an accident waiting to happen, but I think better of it. Won’t cancel the meetings if I break it. Just means buying a new one, which means more work than it’s worth.
“Rough day or week?”
I blink and look up. He’s still standing next to me, expression sympathetic. A comrade in the corporate trenches.
“Rough week,” I confess. “Just got back from Tokyo, back-to-back meetings today, then flying to Toronto tomorrow for a client presentation.”
“Consulting, I’m guessing.”
“Data analytics..specifically business modeling, so yes. You?”
“Finance. Risk assessment.” He shrugs in a way that suggests he finds his own job significantly boring. “Less interesting than it sounds. Though probably less travel than yours, Tokyo to Toronto in fifty hours sounds brutal.”
It is brutal. And I chose this life, agreed to it the moment I left my old role and started my own firm. So I pull out the self-deprecating smile I always have on hand. “It is. But I run the company, so…”
Can’t exactly complain about the thing you built.
“Impressive,” he says, and he sounds like he means it. “Running your own firm while managing a contract like Evergreen, that’s real dedication.”
I feel a small glow of pride before time catches up with me. “Sorry, I should” I gesture toward the door. “That meeting I mentioned. I’m already ten minutes late.”
“Of course. Good luck with Toronto.”
I’m already at the door, mentally two steps ahead, when he calls out.
“Hey, if you’re ever back in town and not running to a meeting” He gestures at the café with a warm smile. “This place makes the best vanilla lattes in the city. I’m here most mornings around seven-thirty.”
I pause. Is he hitting on me? It doesn’t feel like he’s hitting on me. It feels friendly. Collegial, even.
“I’m a regular here too,” I hear myself say. “When I’m in the country, anyway.”
“Well then. Maybe I’ll see you around…”
“Genevieve.”
“Kieran. Safe travels, Genevieve.”
I leave, already pulling out my phone, already forgetting about him in the rush of emails and calendar notifications.
Just another friendly interaction on a busy morning.
Nothing special.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome to Willing!
I need you to know this isn’t a traditional love story, so no happy endings here. It gets dark and questionable so you’ve been warned.
Lovingly, Everdyn Love
Trigger Warnings:
Dark themes
Mature/explicit content
Psychological themes
Violence & death
Captivity
Disordered eating
Trauma
Dubcon elements
