Extra Strong Mocha

Lillian ended up just taking a quick shower before going to bed as it had gotten quite late. A lot had happened that day, and she wanted to wake up early the next morning to figure out her new route to work.

Her phone alarm started to beep right at 6am, as she had set it the night before. Her left eye half open, she dragged herself to the side of her wide bed and grasped for her phone on the side table, hitting hard wood a couple times until she finally found her phone. She pulled it under the covers and slid the button across the screen, snoozing her alarm for another 10 minutes.

She continued snoozing her alarm another 3 times, until finally the sound gave her too much of a headache that she sat up and slumped over, sliding the alarm button to stop.

Sleepily, she rubbed her eyes, slowly blinking awake as her eyes came into focus and saw the time on her clock. It was now 6:42am.

"Sh*t!" Her eyes flew open and without hesitation she threw her warm duvet off to the side and hopped down onto the floor beside her.

Lillian rushed through her morning routine, washing her face, styling her hair, applying make up, and throwing on some work clothes before heading out of her bedroom. She did not have much time, so she simply tied her hair back in a ponytail and just applied a bit of BB cream within just a couple minutes.

She was putting on her shoes by the front door as the clock was just hitting 7:00am, when Andrew's voice startled her from behind.

"Where are you headed off to?" He was casually stood, leaning against one of the stark white walls and holding a cup of coffee when Lillian turned around.

"Work," she replied with a slight edge in her voice as she was slightly out of breathe trying to rush out of the apartment.

"I'll be leaving shortly, I can just give you a ride in." He took a sip from the cup in his hands and calmly looked back at the woman in front of him.

"Huh?" Lillian had just finished slipping on her second shoe. She was about to respond to the CEO that she wanted to figure out her new route to work, but she paused. Looking at the calm man across from her, she realized something was different.

Pajamas! He's wearing pajamas! Wtf? Lillian, get your head on straight, of course you'd be seeing the CEO in casual clothes. You're roommates now.

Lillian gathered herself together from the astonishment she felt when she noticed Andrew was not wearing his usual three piece suit, but instead a black and grey flannel night shirt and trouser combo.

"I asked if you'd like a ride to the office, but it seems like you need a cup of coffee instead. Should I go grab you one?" His calm expression began to turn a bit cold at the thought of having to brew another cup. He was not used to doing such tasks for others, but Lillian had been kind enough to prepare dinner the night before and he wanted to return the favor.

"No, that's ok. I'm going to grab something to eat on my way to work anyway. Also, I appreciate the offer, but I think it might be best if we leave separately. I'd rather keep a low profile about our living together, and arriving in the same car could spark strange rumors at the office..."

"We should probably keep our interactions at the office limited too." Lillian quickly added. She then politely bid him adieu and closed the apartment door behind her.

The luxury apartments were located pretty close to downtown, so she only had to ride the train one stop before reaching her destination. Once the weather would get warmer, she could even walk to work to get a little exercise at the start of her day.

A couple streets away from their office building, Lillian stopped by a popular bakery that was attached to a small cafe. She'd never been there that early before, so the line was shorter than usual. She checked out at the register, buying herself an almond cheese croissant and an extra strength coffee mocha to enjoy once she got to the office.

Just as she was turning around to make her way to the exit, she saw a smiling man waving to her from the back of the short line. It was Mason, the hottie mail man, who had gifted her a small chocolate just last week for Valentine's.

"Mason! What a surprise!" She couldn't hide her excitement at running into her little crush outside of the usual work setting.

"I know! It's so lucky to run into you here like this. I was running a few minutes ahead of schedule, so I decided to stop by for a coffee." He motioned to the mail truck parked outside, never losing eye contact with the beautiful Lillian Grace.

Unbeknownst to Lillian, this mail man had taken a keen interest in her as well. He was struck from the first time he met her on her first day at the Geldan Group a few months earlier.

There was a cute nervousness on her face when she greeted him that first day. She was looking back and forth between him and her hiring boss attentively, as she was trying to do her best to learn all of her new tasks. The determined look in her hazel eyes when she signed the clipboard handed to her, and the way her long dark hair gently draped across her shoulder when she moved to tuck the strands behind her ear really struck him. His daily stop at the Geldan building soon became the highlight of his workday.

Lillian continued a small conversation with Mason and bought him his drink in thanks for his chocolate and card a week prior.

A few minutes later, she was smiling to herself as she made her way into the office, happy about the surprise interaction she just had.