Periods? it's ok, here's my jacket!

By the time the office began to empty in the evening, Selena was drowning. She hadn’t even completed two documents from the mountain of work Julian had dumped on her.

Her desk was littered with papers, her hair was disheveled, and she had a pencil awkwardly tucked behind her ear. She glared at the spreadsheet on her screen like it had personally offended her.

“How the hell do people do this every day?” she muttered, slamming her head lightly against the desk. “This isn’t work; this is torture.”

Selena flipped through a document, reading the same sentence for the fifth time. “What even is a market analysis?” she groaned, tossing the paper aside. Her hands found her temples, rubbing them as if massaging her brain might somehow make her smarter.

She missed acting. Memorizing lines, doing photo shoots, walking red carpets—it all felt like a dream compared to the nightmare of deciphering Julian’s financial jargon.

“This column isn’t even aligned properly! Is that my job to fix?!” she shouted to the empty office. She pointed accusingly at the screen. “You think you’re better than me? Huh? You think you’ve won, Excel?!”

Her voice echoed in the empty space, and she sighed, collapsing into her chair. “I’m losing my mind. Great. First the career, now my sanity.”

Selena’s eyelids grew heavy. She was exhausted, her body crying out for rest. She leaned back, groaning loudly. “I swear, if I ever get back to acting, I’m going to play a character who burns an office building to the ground.”

As she leaned back, groaning and stretching, she suddenly felt a presence behind her. A low chuckle made her freeze in place.

“You talk to yourself when you’re frustrated?” came a deep, familiar voice, laced with amusement.

Selena’s heart stopped. She turned her head slightly, and there he was—Julian, standing right behind her, hands in his pockets, his dark eyes gleaming with amusement.

She scrambled to sit up straight, her cheeks flushing. “What are you doing here?” she demanded, trying to sound composed but failing miserably.

“This is my office,” Julian said, raising an eyebrow. “I can go wherever I please.”

Selena huffed and turned back to her screen, hoping he’d just leave her alone. But of course, Julian wasn’t the type to do that.

He leaned down, placing a hand on the back of her chair and another on the desk, effectively trapping her. His presence was overwhelming, his cologne filling the air around her.

Selena swallowed hard as he leaned closer, his voice right by her ear. “You’ve been stuck on this same page for hours, haven’t you?”

“I—what? No, I haven’t!” she lied, though the glaring truth was evident on her screen.

Julian smirked, his lips curving devilishly. “You’re not even halfway through your tasks.”

She groaned softly, her defenses crumbling. “This is impossible. Who even works like this? You’re worse than a slave driver.”

His laugh was low, almost predatory. “You’re just saying that because you’re not used to real work.”

Selena glared at him over her shoulder. “Excuse me, but acting is *real* work. You try spending 12 hours in heels on a set!”

Julian’s smirk widened. “Touché. But you’re not on a set now, are you? You’re in my world. And in my world, you need to learn to survive.”

Without warning, Julian leaned further over her, his chest nearly brushing her back. Selena froze, her breath hitching as he rested his large hand over hers, guiding it to the mouse.

Her heart pounded as his voice dropped lower, softer, almost sultry. “Let me show you.”

“W-What are you doing?” she stammered, her cheeks burning.

“Helping you,” he murmured, his lips dangerously close to her ear. “Pay attention.”

His fingers lightly pressed hers, moving the mouse to highlight a column in the spreadsheet. “This is where you compare the data. Look at these numbers. They’re projections for revenue growth. You need to analyze them against these actuals.”

Selena tried to focus on his words, but his proximity was maddening. His breath tickled her neck, and she could feel the heat radiating off his body.

“I don’t understand,” she admitted, her voice barely a whisper.

Julian chuckled darkly, the sound sending shivers down her spine. “Of course you don’t. You’re too busy being flustered to concentrate.”

“I am *not* flustered,” she snapped, though her trembling voice betrayed her.

His lips quirked into a smirk. “Really? Then why is your hand shaking?”

Selena pulled her hand away, clutching it to her chest. “I’m just tired, okay? You dumped an entire week’s worth of work on me in one day!”

Julian straightened, crossing his arms over his chest. “If you want to survive here, you need to toughen up. You’re not on a movie set anymore, Princess.”

The nickname made her bristle. “Stop calling me that.”

“Why?” he asked, his tone mocking. “Does it hit too close to home?”

Selena glared at him, standing up to face him. She was tired, overwhelmed, and fed up with his attitude. “You make everything harder than it needs to be! I just want to leave already!”

Julian tilted his head, his dark eyes glinting with amusement. “And yet, you’re still here. Why is that, Selena? Is it because you need me?”

His words stung because they were true. She clenched her fists, her pride warring with her desperation.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she said through gritted teeth.

Julian’s smirk softened into something more thoughtful, though he quickly masked it. He stepped back, giving her some space.

“Finish the work,” he said coolly, his tone all business now.

Selena stared at the stack of papers in front of her, utterly defeated. She hadn’t even made a dent in the work. Her eyelids were heavy, her mind muddled, and frustration clung to her like a second skin.

“I’ll give you an extension,” Julian said coolly, his dark eyes scanning her exhausted face.

Her head snapped up in shock. “What?”

“An extension,” he repeated, clearly annoyed at having to say it twice. “Something I don’t usually do. Consider yourself lucky.”

Selena blinked at him, dumbfounded. “Why would you do that?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Do you want it or not?”

“Yes, I do!” she blurted, then quickly composed herself. “I mean, thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” Julian said, his tone curt. “Just finish it before the deadline.” He turned on his heel, already walking toward the door. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”

Selena hesitated. “You don’t have to—”

“Let’s not waste time,” he interrupted without looking back.

Reluctantly, Selena grabbed her bag and followed him out of the office.

The evening air was cool as they walked toward Julian’s sleek black car parked at the curb. Selena trudged ahead of him, her thoughts bouncing between relief at the extension and irritation at his brusque attitude.

Julian walked with his usual confident stride, but something caught his eye. His gaze landed on a faint red stain near the back of her dress. He blinked, his steps faltering for the first time all day.

“Selena?” he said abruptly, stopping in his tracks.

She stopped too, turning back to him in confusion. “What?”

Julian opened his mouth, then closed it again. Words failed him as he tried to figure out how to approach the situation. He ran a hand through his hair, clearly uncomfortable.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, her brows furrowing.

Julian sighed, realizing there was no delicate way to handle this. He shrugged off his jacket and stepped closer, draping it around her waist without explanation.

Selena stiffened, utterly baffled. “What are you doing?”

“Just…wear this,” he muttered, his voice unusually low.

Her confusion deepened, but then it hit her. Her eyes widened in horror as she pieced it together. “Wait—am I—”

Julian cleared his throat, cutting her off. “You didn’t notice?”

Her face turned crimson. “Oh my God,” she whispered, mortified.

“Clearly not,” he said dryly, but there was no malice in his tone. “It’s fine. Just…fix it when you get home.”

Selena wanted to disappear. She clutched the jacket around her waist, avoiding his gaze. “This is so embarrassing,” she mumbled.

Julian sighed, his expression unreadable. “I’ll be in the car,” he said, turning away.

Selena stood frozen for a moment, staring at his retreating figure. How could someone so infuriating be so…decent? She shook her head, trying to push the thought away as she followed him to the car.

The car ride was uncomfortably quiet. Selena stared out the window, her cheeks still burning from the earlier incident. Julian, on the other hand, seemed unbothered, his attention focused on the road.

Finally, she couldn’t take the silence anymore. “Thanks,” she muttered, barely loud enough to be heard.

“For what?” he asked, his tone neutral.

“For…you know,” she said awkwardly, gesturing vaguely toward the jacket.

Julian’s lips twitched as if he was holding back a smirk. “Don’t mention it.”

Selena sank deeper into her seat, praying for the ride to end quickly.

When they finally arrived at her place, Julian stopped the car but didn’t say anything. Selena hesitated, gripping the door handle.

“Goodnight,” she said softly, opening the door.

Julian gave a small nod. “Don’t forget to finish those documents,” he reminded her, his voice firm but not unkind.

“Yeah, I know,” she replied, stepping out of the car.

As she walked toward her building, she couldn’t help but glance back. Julian was still sitting in the car, his gaze unreadable as he watched her go.