Coincidences Happen

It was ten minutes before her date and Maeve had to meet her boyfriend in the lobby. Her best friend/roommate didn't return at his usual hour which could only mean he was not going to return at all that night. With one swirl in the middle of the living room and one last look at her outfit, Maeve smiled and checked her phone. No new messages and no new calls. She checked the time again and realized there were five minutes left. Maeve sat on the edge of her red L shaped couch and stared ahead patiently.

She was getting really bored and didn't even budge from her spot. She checked again and realized only two minutes have passed. Suddenly her phone buzzed and startled her to the point she jolted. Unfortunately the message she got was from her new job. Her boss sent her a welcoming message and informed her of her new schedule.

"What publishing company starts the day at lunch?" She wondered, reading the message for the second time, "And he used such colloquial language…"

The next buzz came ten minutes after the message and it was from her boyfriend. He arrived and asked her to stay home and wait for him to get up. She smiled happily and checked her makeup and hair before she heard the doorbell ring and opened the door.

Unlike her joyful expression, he looked very stiff. As soon as she saw his frown, Maeve let go of the doorknob and signed for him to enter but he didn’t.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked trying to sound like she wasn’t uncomfortable.

The man sighed and rubbed his hands together before he grabbed one of hers and squeezed it. Maeve's eyes widened and suddenly, she froze. What if her best friend was right the other day and her boyfriend was planning on asking her to marry him? Of course she couldn't say no but the whole scenario became so much more realistic in her head when he grabbed her hand.

"Let's break up."

It took her a moment to register that what he said had nothing to do with marriage.

"Wh-What?!" She didn't intend to scream but she wasn't exactly in charge of her reactions at the moment.

"We have been dating for three years and sincerely, I can't understand why. We act like teenagers but we are already in our late-twenties. I want to marry, Maeve."

"I never said anything about marriage."

"Exactly. You never talk about anything regarding our future. I know you only live in the present and you are greedy for a successful career. I am not in your future and you know it. Besides, it feels like we are in a platonic relationship. I invest feelings but you don't." He explained his reasons as simply as he could but her poker face was hard to decipher.

"You're breaking up with me because I don't invest enough feelings in our relationship?" She asked, using his words, "What are you, a child? Falling in love and having a relationship are two different things." She hissed, her grip on the door tightening.

Her boyfriend's eyes widened at the news, "So you don't even love me, is that right?"

Maeve's eyes widened in shock mostly because she did say that and meant it. She licked her lips and looked down, finding it impossible to look into his eyes.

"Why are you suddenly doing this?" She asked, lowering her voice so her neighbours wouldn't get a show in the corridor.

"I found someone else. Someone who actually gets involved into my life and asks me if I’m alright, hungry or happy." He mumbled, rubbing his head in frustration.

Looking at her, she was a pretty woman and she was genuinely smart and had great skills but her feelings were solely based on her needs and desires. She was selfish and wouldn't even visit his parents for dinner or holidays.

"I'm sorry, Maeve." He finished and even had the guts to lean in for a hug or something like that but she closed the door in his face, "I should have expected that," he muttered before walking down the corridor to the elevator.

On the other side, Maeve turned her back to the door and walked in front of the mirror. Looking at her reflection, she couldn’t help but feel like the Universe was messed up. She had money, she graduated among the best and was living in New York with her best friend. Apparently, that wasn’t enough.

She frowned and called her best friend.

"Where are you, Jonah?"

"In a club in Manhattan, why? You and your boyfriend want to join us?" He took care to emphasize the word that stung the most.

"He broke up with me." She responded coldly.

There was a pause on Jonah's part before she heard him mumble.

 "I'll be waiting in front of the club. Take a taxi."

That was all before he hung up. Maeve rubbed her forehead and gripped the phone tightly. Her desktop was a picture with her former boyfriend in the park during one of their first dates. It was back in college when life was a lot easier people didn’t have huge expectations from her.

Maeve arrived in front of the club 15 minutes later and Jonah was waiting there just like he said he would; only, he wasn't alone.

"This is my friend, Gina. I thought you need some female companionship for tonight."

Maeve glanced at the tall model girl before she turned to Jonah.

"I need to get drunk." She answered before she walked past the two.

Jonah and Gina glanced at each other before they followed her inside.

It took about an hour for the newly single girl to gulp down three shots of tequila and finish two beers. She was ready to dance and forget everything about that asshole, at least for one night.

Gina proved to be quite useful as she knew people inside the club and her male friends were appealing. They didn't seem to worth the risk of a one night stand but they were good dancers, which really was all Maeve needed at the moment.

That was how she ended up at the bar, her vision still straight but her head was a bit dizzy.

"How come a woman can turn her back to that?" A guy sat next to her and pointed at Jonah.

Maeve scoffed and asked the bartender for another tequila shot before she turned to the newcomer.

"He snores loudly and doesn't clean after himself," she responded, surprising the guy, "He's my best friend and we live together." She explained just as the bartender placed the drink in front of her.

"Living with a guy, that's a bit risky isn't it?" He started randomly, his long fingers drumming against the barstool.

"That may be if he would at least clean his own room or at least let the toilet bin down after pissing." She was only partially joking but he laughed. 

"I'm Tom, by the way," He introduced himself, shoving his hand in front of her.

Maeve glanced between his hand and face before she shook it.

"Maeve, the Ice Queen."

Tom laughed at her introduction and asked the bartender for one more beer.

"I'm not drunk yet to be fooled into leaving this club with you. Try after an hour or two," She bluntly admitted that she may be available in a few hours which only startled Tom.

The man smirked and opened his drink, "You just say whatever you're thinking, don't you?"

Maeve raised an eyebrow and stared at the new acquaintance. For someone who looked so handsome, he wasn't dressed to impress but more like he wanted to blend in the crowd and leave as soon as possible.

"I am not usually very talkative. I prefer to listen and note what I like and dislike."

"Are you that kind of person who makes lists instead of screaming and fighting?"

"No. I am rather violent if you ask my friends," She responded with a poker face, making it hard for Tom to know if she was joking or not, "Did I scare you?" She asked leaning really close to his face.

His eyes scanned her face before he stopped on her lips. She raised an eyebrow and chuckled before she got on her feet and pulled him on the dance floor.

The rest of the night was a blur and only because at some point, Gina and Jonah came with cocktails that had vodka in them; Maeve was not good with that particular beverage. There was one thing she could remember and that was dancing with Tom.

Next morning, Maeve groaned and rubbed her eyes when the light of the sun engulfed the bedroom. She felt her head ache like it was going to split in pieces at the slightest move; however, she got up and yawned, having the need to go and pee. She pushed the covers aside and trembled at the cold air hitting her bare legs.

The messy haired woman looked down and froze; she was naked. Very slowly, she tilted her head to the side and checked if she was alone or not. There was a man sleeping next to her with his face in the pillow and his legs sprawled half inside and half outside the covers. She swallowed nervously and raised the cover off him a bit; she let it down quickly when she realized he was naked as well.

Once he moved and groaned, signs that he was waking up, Maeve started to panic. He raised his head and turned around, facing her bare chest.

Maeve screamed.

Tom screamed.

They stared at each other once they stopped and both grabbed the covers to hide their nakedness from the other's eyes.

"What are you doing in my house?" She hissed.

"You are in my house; my bedroom to be exact." He responded grumpily, rubbing his head in pain.

Unlike Tom who was standing on his bed with his lower half covered, hair a mess and yawning loudly while standing with his hands on his lap lazily, Maeve was warily scanning the bedroom.

"This is not my room," It was ugly and really small compared to hers. It was also pretty obvious that a man was living there because it had a stack of porn magazines in plain sight and clothes were spread in every corner. His desk was also full of books and she could barely see his laptop under a tank of papers.

"It's already 11 am~" He groaned, taking his phone and shuffling through his messages.

Maeve knew she had something to do that day, something very important that she questioned the night before. Then it struck her.

"I have to be at work in an hour!" She yelped and quickly got up, ignoring the fact that she just started to look for her clothes while being naked.

"Don't worry. I'm not looking." He mumbled, getting up and rubbing his stomach like an old man.

Maeve scoffed and threw a sock at him, "You looked enough last night. Let's just get this over with and forget about each other."

Tom glanced at her over his shoulder while he grabbed the sock off his head. He threw it back at her, and she actually took it, getting dressed suspiciously fast.

"You look like you've done this before." He commented as he started to look for his bathrobe.

Maeve rolled her eyes and almost fell while putting on her socks, "I don't remember saying I was an innocent, shameful person."

Tom found his robe and shrugged, "I bet you don't remember a lot of things you said last night."

She threw him a nasty glare before she walked out of his room and realized just how small his apartment was.

"What?" He asked on the way to the kitchen counter; he was in need of coffee and tomato juice.

She shook her head and decided not to insult him when he was just a decoy from her breakup.

"What is your address? I need to take the Uber and go home."

Tom rubbed his chin and leaned against the counter.

"You can take the subway, is right across the street."

She shook her head and dialed the number for Uber.

"I don't have time for that. Damn it, respond already,"

As soon as the car arrived she turned to Tom and wondered if she should wave or just leave. In the end, she did whisper a goodbye before she walked down the stairs and got in the car.

It was half past 12 and she knew her boss will be very mad when the new editor who made quite an interesting impression during her interview will barge inside the department so late.

She was waiting at the elevator when a very familiar black sweater appeared next to her, his eyes watching her from the side, hands linked behind.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed, seeing him as her principal reason of being late.

"Wouldn't you like to now," he retorted, surprising her with the sudden turn of attitude.

The ride in the elevator was horrible mostly because both Maeve and Tom were seizing each other up, each in their own little corner. The doors opened and someone else entered, someone she actually knew.

"Glad to see you, Miss Sims.” That was one of the department heads that attended her interview, James Johansson. He only glanced at her politely before he turned to Tom with a scowl, "You're late."

“Yeah, well, not a surprise.” Was his answer to which Mr. Johansson rolled his eyes and pressed the button for the 5^th floor.

The ride was awkward yet Tom seemed to find pleasure in annoying the shorter man.

"Had Molly shown you the manuscript for The Rollercoaster?"

"No." Mr. Johansson answered curtly.

Tom's lips widened into a teasing smile, "Do you want to come and take it now or should I bring it to you later?"

"Don't bother." Johansson answered quickly.

Eventually, they arrived on the 5th floor and Johansson hurried out the doors. She was ready to follow him when Tom pulled her back and pressed the button for the 9^th floor.

"The Editing Department is on the 9^th while the Creative Department is on 5^th. Right above, on the 6^th floor is Sales and Accounting. You shouldn't go there until you need to save your life." He started, putting his hands in his front pockets with a peaceful expression.

Maeve blinked and tilted her head to the side, scanning his lazy posture.

 "What exactly is your job?"

The response had to wait because the doors opened again and the two culprits met the happy face of CEO Andrew Kim. Maeve followed Tom into the corridor where Mr. Kim gave them the biggest smile Maeve had ever seen.

“What do you think, Miss Sims?"

"Of what?" She asked raising an eyebrow confused.

Mr. Kim laughed loudly before he pulled Tom next to him.

"Your new boss, of course! Chief Editor Thomas Newland. And Tom, this is your new team member, Maeve Sims." He finally unveiled the mystery, letting go of his worker and taking a step back.

Maeve's eyes widened as those words echoed in her mind.

Your new boss…

Once she fully registered that information, she turned to Tom with a frown. 

“Nice to meet you, Miss Sims.” Tom said, his eyes glinting with mischievousness. Seeing how their CEO was right there and he had no idea of what has happened less than 24 hours ago, Maeve decided to go along with Tom’s act.

“I hope we’ll get along, Mr. Newland.” She answered and the two shook hands, both their smiles not quite reaching their eyes.

Compared to the perfect professional life she was craving for, trouble seemed to have followed Maeve even to her workplace.