"Ms. Larsson! Kajsa!" a female voice rang behind her, and Kajsa turned around.
Linda, John Holyoake's secretary, was waving to her from across the street, her left hand occupied with a cardboard tray with three coffee cups. Kajsa gave the woman a small wave back and slowed down by the entrance door to the publishing house. She could see Berg linger on the corner as usual, to make sure she reached the building safely. She gave his tall, athletic figure an affectionate glance. No matter how much her driver slash bodyguard grumbled and protested, she knew how much he enjoyed the time he spent in the car waiting for her, reading his favourite manga and eating crisps.
"Oh, Ms. Larsson, thank you," Linda panted out, coming to a stop near Kajsa. "You know what John is like. He'd eat me alive if you were there, and no coffee was served!" Linda chatted while they both entered the lobby. "Our office Sage died this morning, can you imagine? John's breathing fire and has already made two editors cry. I had half a mind to ring up his wife."
Kajsa laughed. John Holyoake didn't scare her, but she could relate to the caffeine deprivation induced rage. She was Nordic, after all.
"Let me help you with this," she said to Linda and stretched her hands to the drinks.
"Oh, it's alright. Just take yours, please." Linda lifted the tray to Kajsa. "I've also ordered take-away from Angelo's for our meeting, but I still got these just in case it didn't get delivered in time."
"I'm early, so you have nothing to worry about."
Kajsa wrapped her fingers around the cup, enjoying the warmth. She'd left her gloves in the Royce. Berg always said she wouldn't make a good spy, routinely blowing her cover like that.
"We could just go to a different department and rob them of their coffee," she murmured, and Linda giggled.
"IT and Digital Security, for example?" the secretary offered cheekily, and they both chortled. "I bet Danny still hasn't recovered from your last meeting, Ms. Larsson. I don't think I'd ever seen him that expressive before - given, all he was expressing was confusion."
Kajsa chuckled. "I truly don't understand what was unclear in my invitation to dinner."
"You offered to cook for him!" Linda snorted. "I bet he assumed you were mocking his domestic skills. Or hinting that he'd be single forever and have to order curry every evening, since that's how the conversation started, may I remind you."
"I simply asked him for recommendations on his favourite place to eat." Kajsa made an innocent face. "I didn't expect him to get startled and hit his head to the bottom of the desk. I probably should've chosen a different time, not when he was dealing with all those cables. Still, I would never–"
The lift doors opened, and Kajsa bit her tongue.
"Oh Danny, we were just talking about you!" Linda announced gleefully.
Kajsa smiled at the man in question, keeping her face as neutral as possible. "Good morning, Mr. Carter."
"Morning," he answered in a low voice.
He stepped back, giving them room. Kajsa discreetly looked the IT specialist over. He wore his habitual military style jumper, black, with patches on the shoulders, and dark denim. When she stepped in, Kajsa threw an appreciative glance at his combat boots. She knew from Linda that Danny Carter was the only man in the publishing house allowed to pass wearing a suit. As a department head, he was said to occasionally don one during important meetings, but so far, Kajsa hadn't had the pleasure to witness it. According to the office gossip, it was a sight to behold - the man had just the build for it, with his wide shoulders and endless legs. Surprisingly, Kajsa thought she might prefer him in his usual clothes.
"What lured you out of your dungeon, Mr. Carter?" Kajsa asked.
She met his striking blue eyes. Linda gave out a suspiciously unnatural cough and busied herself with unnecessarily rearranging sugar packets on her tray.
"I've got a meeting on the twelfth floor," he answered and glanced at Kajsa'a coffee.
"John's Sage is dead," Linda explained. "Does your coffee machine work? Perhaps, we could intrude on you for a refill later."
He stared down at her. Kajsa truly appreciated his physique. Even considering her rather impressive Nordic height and her beloved 10 cm Louboutins, he was still towering over her.
"We're out of beans," he answered quietly. "I was hoping to get some coffee in the Accounting."
"That just won't do!" Kajsa exclaimed. "How can you function without it? We'll have a security breach. Here, take mine." She pushed her hand with the coffee cup to him. "I've already had three this morning, and Linda promised me take-away from Angelo's."
"It's from that coffee shop in the next block," Linda readily chimed in.
If he wasn't so stone-faced, he'd probably look panicked. There was a moment of hesitation, but no matter how rough around the edges he seemed, Kajsa knew he was never rude or inconsiderate.
"I haven't touched it," Kajsa added with a small laugh. "You're safe from my germs."
His gaze jumped between the cup and her a couple of times. He had long, fluffy eyelashes, and his spectacles suited him so much! Taking off his glasses to enjoy his vulnerable short-sighted gaze was one of Kajsa's habitual fantasies. Still, she almost regretted offering him the drink. She honestly wasn't trying to fluster him, she'd just acted on impulse. He tended to wake up those in her.
He slowly lifted his hand and picked up the top of the coffee with his thumb and middle finger. He held all his cups like that, and drank, twisting his wrist in a quirky mannerism. Kajsa couldn't help her stalking, it seemed: somehow she noticed and remembered the littlest things about the man. He had massive hands and long fingers. The watch was once again on his right wrist. Kajsa let go of the cup and adjusted the strap of her handbag. Her cheeks felt suddenly hot. She sarcastically congratulated herself on possibly having developed yet another fetish. She'd never seen him with his sleeves rolled up before.
"Thank you," he grumbled, and she nodded, without looking at him.
"Sugar? Cream?" Linda offered.
Kajsa knew he took it black, but she wisely kept her mouth shut. There was no need to expose the level of her interest in the man.
"No, thank you," he answered and took a sip.
Kajsa caught the movement from the corner of her eye. It was simply ridiculous how she found everything he did so very fit. He had a strong neck, the bottom line of his short beard was uneven, and his Adam apple bobbed when he swallowed. Kajsa realised she was behaving like a schoolgirl with a crush - and couldn't hold back a quiet snicker. He noticeably tensed.
"Are you the sort of a geek who plays video games?" Linda asked, poorly hiding the excitement in her voice. "Or are you into fantasy? You see, Ms. Larsson is illustrating the new fantasy series we're publishing. Hench men with swords, and all that armour, and maidens with bows! Is it something to your liking, Danny?"
"I do read fantasy," he deadpanned.
Silence hung in the lift, and Linda gave Kajsa a hardly covert encouraging nod towards the portfolio Kajsa was pressing to her chest and then towards the man. Kajsa had to purse her lips tightly to refrain from grinning or even giggling at the secretary's clumsy matchmaking attempt. Despite her own - uncharacteristically pronounced - appreciation for him, Kajsa would never be that direct. She'd hate to make him uncomfortable. In the last two years that she'd known him, he'd never openly rejected her silly flirting, but she doubted he was interested in anything more.
"I did enjoy your illustrations for The Kalevala, though," he murmured, and Kajsa whipped her head.
His eyes still fixed in front of him, he took another sip of his coffee. It had been years since a compliment to her art affected her so much! Her heart was beating rapidly, and her cheeks were definitely burning now. She firmly reminded herself he was simply being courteous towards a coworker - and it would be ridiculous to read too much into it.
"Thank you," she answered with a polite smile.
"Can I see the new ones?" he asked, pointed at her folder with his cup, and then finally met her eyes.
Stunned and speechless, she pulled at the zipper on the portfolio - and then the lift dinged, and the doors opened.
"That's me," he said. "Some other time, yeah?"
The corners of his mouth twitched, as if he was going to smile, but then his face grew just as inscrutable as always, and he stepped out of the lift.
"Have a good day," he muttered, and Linda and Kajsa didn't have time to answer before the doors closed.
"What was that?!" Linda exclaimed and huffed an annoyed exhale. "I just can't suss him out."
"Neither can I," Kajsa said and then burst into merry laughter. "But I'm willing to keep trying."