It was trouble from the very beginning. That’s what the company says – that’s what the board warned him about. That’s what he told himself every time you opened your smart, sarcastic mouth in meetings – usually to contradict him, always correctly. Of course, no one else saw it. No one else saw the way you’d brush past him, the way you’d blink at him slowly, the way you’d always command every area of Eren’s life with confidence. Perhaps even you didn’t know the effect you had.

No one else gets away with any of it; you do. It drives Eren fucking insane. He clenches his jaw every time you step into the room. Has to remind himself who you are. Who he is. That you’re technically under him, and that’s not a metaphor he can afford right now.

There was that one incident with your dress. It was for a client meeting, you had said. He didn’t say anything in response. He did fire two people that day though – no one dared ask why. Even Armin, his personal assistant, only side-eyed him without bothering to ask questions; he knew immediately how the day would unfold when he saw your clothes that day.

You’re finally back from your holiday. Eren knew before HR emailed him, before your out-of-office status lifted, before your name reappeared in his calendar. He simply felt it in the air, in the back of his skull, the sudden tug towards your office directly opposite his.

Then he did see you. In the glass-walled boardroom for a morning meeting – far too early for his body to catch up to his brain. And there you were sat, at the far end of the table, your laptop open and prepared for the meeting, along with everyone else who awaited Eren himself.

Eren froze. The second his eyes landed on you, his body and brain shut down instantly. Just for a second – but it was enough. Enough for your eyes to lift from your laptop and catch the hesitation in his eyes, the sudden panic at facing you. All you offered was a simple smile, and to Eren that was enough. He stepped inside, slow and deliberate, acting like he had control over whatever this was. Like he hadn’t forgotten every point on the agenda.

Passing you to get to his seat, all he said, quiet and measured, was, “You always look at your superiors like that?”