The sound of the phone ringing echoed through the villa's quiet corridors, slicing through the silence of the late evening like a sharp knife. Addison was curled up on the plush sofa in the living room, flipping through a book she hadn't been able to focus on. She had expected the night to be uneventful, a brief respite from the tension of the past few days.
But when the phone buzzed again, she sighed and glanced at the screen. The caller ID read "Justin Ross."
Her pulse quickened, but she hesitated before answering, wondering if this call would be another one of his demands. She couldn't help but feel the undercurrent of frustration that always seemed to accompany his presence.
"Addison," Justin's voice came through, terse and commanding as usual. "I need you. There's a problem with the presentation for tomorrow morning. Get down here. Now."
Her stomach dropped. It was after ten, and the last thing she wanted was to step back into that world of cold precision and egotistical drive. But there was no room for hesitation. Pete's absence was becoming more apparent as he hobbled around, barely able to keep up with Justin's endless demands. And Justin had made it clear—he didn't want to hear excuses, especially from someone who wasn't his assistant.
"On my way," Addison replied, her tone tight but controlled.
The phone went dead, and she stood up, casting a quick glance at her reflection in the mirror. She took a deep breath. She could do this. She had to.
The walk from her room to the office space was long. The villa sprawled across the cliffside like a fortress, and it seemed as if the very walls knew she was heading into a battle. As she reached the large, open-plan office, she found Justin pacing in front of the large windows that overlooked the ocean. His back was rigid, and the look on his face was a mix of frustration and impatience.
"Where the hell have you been?" His voice was rough, but there was something different about it tonight—something more strained than usual. "We have a disaster on our hands."
Addison fought the urge to roll her eyes. Disaster—in Justin's world, that word could mean anything from a misplaced file to an actual crisis. She took a steady breath before approaching him.
"Okay, what's going on?" She kept her tone calm, trying to steady herself. She was good at this—being calm when everything else felt like it was about to fall apart.
Justin turned toward her, running a hand through his hair. "The presentation. It's a mess. Half the slides aren't formatted correctly, and the data is all over the place. We're supposed to pitch to the investors tomorrow morning, and I can't show up looking like an amateur."
Addison frowned, glancing at the computer screen, where the presentation was open. It was chaotic, to say the least. The slides were mismatched, and there were technical errors everywhere. The numbers didn't align properly, and the overall flow of the presentation was erratic. It was clear this wasn't just a minor glitch.
"I'll fix it," she said without hesitation, already moving toward the desk.
Justin blinked, his eyebrows furrowing. "You? You think you can fix this in time?"
She met his eyes, her gaze steady. "I don't think. I know." She paused, her fingers already tapping the keyboard as she began to assess the problem. "If you give me access to the data files, I'll get started on the corrections right now."
Justin stared at her for a long beat, his expression unreadable. For a moment, Addison wondered if he was about to dismiss her outright, but then, after a tense silence, he stepped aside and gestured toward the desk. "Fine. Do it."
Addison worked quickly, pulling up the data files and identifying the inconsistencies. Her mind shifted into problem-solving mode, the only place where she truly felt in control. As she methodically addressed each issue, she noticed Justin lingering nearby, pacing, but this time, his movements were less about frustration and more about watching her work.
"How do you do that?" His voice broke the silence after a few minutes. "How do you stay so calm?"
Addison didn't look up from her work. "It's just how I handle things. I focus on what needs to be done, not what's going wrong."
He was quiet for a moment, and when she glanced up, she saw him leaning against the desk, his arms crossed. There was a subtle change in his posture—a slight softening in his demeanor, though he still didn't let go of his usual air of control.
"You're not like the others," he said, almost begrudgingly. "Most people would be panicking by now."
Addison felt a small, internal victory. She couldn't remember the last time someone had said something like that to her. "I don't have the luxury of panicking. People are counting on me to get things done. Just like you, I imagine."
Justin gave a sharp, humorless laugh. "I guess you could say that."
She turned back to the screen, continuing her work. There was something in his voice, a note of frustration that he didn't hide. It was the first time she had seen any hint of vulnerability from him, and it felt strange to recognize that he might be as human as the rest of them.
They worked side by side in a tense but focused silence. Addison was in her element, weaving through the slides and reformatting everything with a fluidity she didn't even need to think about. Justin hovered nearby, his eyes occasionally flicking over to check her progress.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she hit the last key, and the presentation was ready. She let out a quiet breath and turned to him, meeting his eyes for the first time in a while.
"It's done," she said simply.
Justin studied the slides for a moment before nodding. There was no visible sign of approval, no "thank you" or even a nod of recognition, but Addison saw the faintest shift in his expression. For just a moment, his guard dropped. The usual arrogance didn't seem to be there, replaced instead by a quiet acknowledgment of her work.
"You—" He cleared his throat. "That was... impressive."
Addison didn't let the compliment go to her head. She was still trying to process everything that had just happened between them. She could feel the weight of their unspoken tension, but for the first time, it felt like they were moving in sync, if only for a moment.
Before she could say anything, Justin was already reaching for his phone, his usual briskness returning. "We'll need to run through this again tomorrow. But you—" He paused, looking back at her. "You did good tonight, Addison."
She smiled faintly, nodding as she stood up from the desk. "Just doing my job."
As she turned to leave, Justin's gaze lingered on her for a moment longer than usual, but when she met his eyes, he quickly looked away; his expression closed off again.
Still, something had shifted. And though it wasn't much, it was a start—a crack in the wall Justin had built around himself.
Addison knew she wasn't finished with him yet. But for the first time, she wondered if there was more to this difficult, demanding man than she had originally thought. And whether or not that was a good thing remained to be seen.