Texting The Wrong Number

Chapter 7: A Work Emergency

After a while, Liam glanced at her screen, a smirk forming on his lips. “Are you… intentionally keeping it monochrome, or do you just really love black and white?”

Emma laughed, rolling her eyes. “Please, Gary’s obsessed with minimalist themes. The last time I suggested a pop of color, he looked at me like I’d committed a crime against design.”

“Well,” Liam said, leaning in conspiratorially, “let’s slip in some color and call it ‘bold simplicity.’ We’ll give Gary a little surprise.”

Emma raised an eyebrow, her grin widening. “Bold simplicity, huh? I like it.”

They continued bouncing ideas off each other, and Emma couldn’t deny how easy it was to work with him. He had a knack for lightening the mood, and before long, she was laughing at his suggestions to add ridiculous “Easter eggs” to the site—like tiny penguins in the footer or a “mystery button” that changed the font to Comic Sans for two seconds.

She was so wrapped up in their conversation that she didn’t notice the time until her stomach growled. Liam looked up, grinning.

“Guess it’s lunchtime,” he said. “Care to join me?”

Emma blinked, a little caught off guard. It was just lunch, she reminded herself, but something about the casual invitation felt oddly… familiar. Like she’d done this with him before.

“Sure,” she replied, grabbing her bag. “There’s a café down the street that does amazing sandwiches. Let’s go.”

As they walked to the café, Emma found herself stealing glances at Liam. There was something about him, something she couldn’t quite place. He had the same kind of humor as Captain Marvel, the same easy confidence. She mentally scolded herself for even considering the possibility. There were thousands of tech guys in this city, and what were the chances she’d actually run into him?

They ordered sandwiches and found a seat by the window, where they chatted about everything from their favorite TV shows to embarrassing college stories. He told her about the time he accidentally spilled coffee on a professor’s laptop during a lecture, and she shared her horror story of an art class critique gone wrong.

Halfway through her sandwich, she caught herself laughing, genuinely laughing, in a way she hadn’t in ages. And then, in a moment of quiet, she realized she was smiling at him like he was more than a coworker. Like he was someone she’d known longer than an hour. It made her stomach flip in a way that felt both exciting and terrifying.

When they finished eating and headed back to the office, Emma tried to shake off the feeling. This was just a work thing. Just a friendly lunch with a coworker.

But that night, as she lay in bed, she found herself thinking about Liam. And for once, she didn’t reach for her phone to text Captain Marvel.

The next morning, Emma received her usual good- morning text from Captain Marvel. She felt a pang of guilt as she realized she hadn’t texted him back the night before, too distracted by her thoughts about her new coworker.

∆Captain Marvel: Morning, Pepper! How’s the project chaos going? Or have you staged a workplace mutiny yet?

Emma laughed, quickly typing back.

∆Pepper: No mutiny yet, though the thought has crossed my mind. Got a new consultant helping out, so it’s been… interesting.

∆ Captain Marvel: “Interesting,” huh? Is he secretly a genius, or are you just being polite?

∆Pepper: Actually, he’s pretty cool. Definitely makes the whole thing easier. But don’t worry, he’s no Captain Marvel. ;)

Emma didn’t know why she’d felt the need to add that last line, but somehow it felt right. There was something about Captain Marvel that was special, even if she couldn’t quite put it into words.

∆ Captain Marvel: Phew! Didn’t want to lose my title as the official Pepper sidekick. Besides, no consultant could match my pineapple-on-pizza opinions.

∆Pepper: Oh, trust me, he’d probably agree with you. The guy’s surprisingly funny.

The conversation continued with their usual banter, but Emma felt a strange pang in her chest, caught between her texting buddy and her real-life coworker. For the first time, her two worlds seemed to be colliding, and it left her feeling more confused than ever.

As she closed her messages and headed out to work, Emma wondered how long she could keep up this double life. Because if there was one thing she knew for sure, it was that both Captain Marvel and Liam had managed to make a mark on her heart in a way she hadn’t expected.

And she was starting to realize that, sooner or later, she’d have to choose which world she wanted to live in.

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