It was a quiet Tuesday afternoon when it all started—a small, seemingly harmless mistake that would set the stage for a far from ordinary meeting.
Quinn had just returned to her condo, barely setting her bag down when the doorbell rang. She opened it with a frown, expecting the delivery man to be standing there with her much-anticipated package. Instead, standing on her doorstep was a tall, brooding figure, staring down at her as if she'd just sprouted wings and started speaking in tongues.
"Yes?" Quinn asked, completely oblivious to the confusion on his face.
Ethan blinked, glancing down at the package in his hands before up at her. "Is this yours?"
Quinn's eyes flicked to the box. It wasn't small or light, and it certainly wasn't something she'd ordered from her usual online shopping spree. But that didn't matter. The most important thing was... this man had opened it.
"No!" she snapped, eyes narrowing. "This is mine, but why are you holding it? And why did you open it?"
Ethan stood there, confused and silent, his expression a mix of surprise and... amusement? She couldn't tell. Maybe it was the way he was looking at her, like she was a child who had just declared war on the world with a paper airplane.
"I'm sorry, I... I thought it was—"
"No!" she interrupted, folding her arms with the kind of finality usually reserved for the most important life decisions. "I'll make sure to give the delivery service a low rating for this. This is ridiculous!"
She didn't wait for him to respond. In fact, she didn't even allow him the chance to speak, her words pouring out like a lecture she had rehearsed just for this moment.
She could hear him still standing there, probably as confused as a deer in headlights, but Quinn didn't care. Without another word, she slammed the door shut. It was a clean, swift motion—just like how she handled most things in life. Control. Precision. Confidence.
From the other side of the door, she could still hear him standing there, probably wondering if he'd accidentally walked into a comedy sketch. She had no idea what his deal was, but his confused look lingered in her mind.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Ethan couldn't help but stare at the door in complete disbelief. As a high-powered CEO, he was used to negotiating deals and managing corporate crises, but this? This was something entirely new. He was supposed to be the one doing the controlling, not some random woman yelling at him for something that wasn't even his fault.
Still, as he turned to head back to his own door, he couldn't shake the image of her face—defiant, confident, and strangely captivating.n