Manic Monday
The owner of a trendy coworking space meets his match in the form of a temperamental graphic designer with a KitKat addiction.
Tropes – Office Romance, Strangers to Lovers, Meet Cute
The first time he ever laid eyes on her, she had taken off her right boot and put it on her right hand to use as a weapon against an inanimate object.
It was a typical Monday. He was heading to his office for a 2 o’clock Zoom call to negotiate the price of printer paper with a new vendor when he spotted her. An angry power punk Tinker Bell cursing and banging on the side of the 2nd floor vending machine with a hot pink Doc Martens boot.
Her jet black hair was in two buns at the top of her head. Her face was done up in black lipstick, mascara, and heavy fuchsia eyeliner. Her left nostril and septum were pierced with sterling silver, matching the spiked studs in her earlobes. Her cropped, black leather jacket kissed her high-waisted, A-line, black skirt. The skirt stopped mid-thigh, exposing long, tan legs all the way down to her boot-clad feet. Well, boot-clad foot. On her right foot was a white ankle sock with an image of Minnie Mouse winking up at him.
“Excuse me,” he cleared his throat, “Do you need help?”
She stopped banging on the vending machine long enough to throw him a glance over her shoulder. “No, thanks,” she huffed. “It’s this thing that’s gonna need your help when I’m done with it.” She gave the machine an extra hard whack, rattling the contents a bit but nothing fell out. “Urgh! It won’t give me my KitKat!”
He moved a little closer and put a hand on her arm to stop the pounding. “Let me save you some trouble. Can you step back, please?”
She relented, gave him access to the machine, and crossed her arms, still gripping the boot in her right hand. He pulled out a set of keys from his pocket, inserted a tiny brown key into the front of the machine, twisted, and the glass door flew open. He pulled out two KitKat bars and snapped the door shut.
When he turned around, she was staring at him in shock. Maybe she’d been expecting him to kick or bang on the machine for her like some chivalrous jackass.
He held out the bars. “Here ya go.” She blinked at them for a moment before accepting the candy. He keeps his hand out. “Don’t think we’ve met yet. I’m Larry Bovine. I own this coworking space. This vending machine is always giving people trouble so I keep the key with me, just in case. Did you just join or are you on a free trial?”
A smile transformed her from a fearsome, rebel pixie warrior into a dark fairy princess. She pocketed the bars and took his hand. “I’m Angelica. I’m renting that office down the hall for my graphic design business, MadLife. This is my first day.”
He grinned. His hand lingering in hers. “Nice to meet you. Let me know if you need anything. My office is only two doors down from yours.”