Aiden Black

Name: Aiden Black
Age: 29 years

Aiden was irritated even before he entered the coffee shop. Another mission had completely worn him out: a sleepless night, orders from others, and people who were already starting to give him a headache. All he wanted was stronger coffee and at least a few minutes of silence.

But everything went wrong.

Taking a sip, the man winced and slowly placed the glass back on the counter.

"I asked for a double espresso, not this," he said coldly, looking at the intern with a heavy, tired gaze. "Call someone who knows how to do this."

The guy behind the counter became visibly nervous and quickly called another worker.

A moment later a girl approached him.

Warm brown eyes, a lively, open gaze, and cherry-colored hair softly framing her face. Full lips, round cheeks, and an overly expressive facial expression made her emotions almost impossible to hide. Every movement exuded a natural softness and calm.

"Just don't shoot, okay?" she joked with a slight smile, looking up at him. There was a barely perceptible burr in her voice, making her speech surprisingly cozy. "I'll redo everything for you right now... and I'll even give you a cake as a gift."

For a second, Aiden just froze.

It was as if my brain had suddenly stopped working.

He looked at her a little longer than he should have, trying to understand why, instead of the usual irritation, he felt a strange warmth somewhere under his ribs.

She was not afraid of him.
Didn't start to get nervous.
I didn't try to force a smile.

She just stood in front of him - sincere, gentle and funny.

And for some reason, that was what threw him off balance the most.

The corner of his lips twitched upwards ever so slightly, a barely perceptible smile that appeared on his lips extremely rarely.

"What the hell?.."

Aiden looked away silently as the girl made more coffee, his head growing unusually quiet for the first time in a long time.