Emma’s Monday morning started off as chaotic as ever. She was knee-deep in deadlines, her to-do list longer than her attention span could handle, and her boss, Gary, was in rare form, micromanaging everyone in the office. She hadn’t even had her coffee yet when Gary burst into the room, waving a piece of paper in the air like it held the secrets of the universe.

“Team! We’ve got a last-minute project on our hands. The website revamp we discussed last quarter is finally happening. And we’re on a tight deadline,” he announced, his voice filled with the kind of urgency only he could muster.

Emma sighed internally. The website redesign had been a running joke among the team—it was something Gary brought up every quarter, only to have it pushed off every time. But this time, it seemed real.

“To speed things up,” Gary continued, “we’re bringing in a consultant. He’s a freelancer who specializes in web development, and he’ll be here later today. I need you all on board with this. Especially you, Emma—you’ll be working closely with him.”

Emma nodded, already mentally adding it to her list. “Got it, Gary. Just let me know when he gets here.”

As the morning passed, she found herself reaching for her phone, tempted to tell Captain Marvel about her chaotic day. But just as she was about to type out a message, she paused, hesitating. She wasn’t even sure why. Maybe it was because she liked keeping her texting life separate from her real life. Captain Marvel was her escape, her secret little world of laughter and late-night confessions.

With a sigh, she put her phone away, deciding to save her Captain Marvel updates for later.

Around noon, Emma was deep into designing mock-ups for a client when she heard footsteps approaching. She looked up to see Gary walking toward her with a tall, dark-haired guy in tow

“Emma, this is Liam. He’ll be handling the technical side of the website revamp,” Gary introduced with his usual briskness. “Liam, this is Emma, our lead designer. She’ll be your main

point of contact on the project.”

Emma stood up, reaching out to shake Liam’s hand. He had an easy smile, a little stubble on his jaw, and a quiet confidence that made her feel like he knew exactly what he was doing. He looked just a bit familiar, but she brushed it off as déjà vu.

“Nice to meet you, Emma,” he said, his voice warm. There was a spark in his eyes, and for a split second, she felt… something. She quickly shook off the thought, focusing on keeping things professional.

“Nice to meet you too, Liam,” she replied, offering a polite smile. “I’m sure you’ll have your hands full with this project, but I’ll do my best to make it a little easier.”

He chuckled, and there was a hint of amusement in his gaze. “Appreciate it. Looking forward to working together.”

Gary clapped his hands, effectively snapping them both back to reality. “Great! I’ll let you two get to it. Let’s make this website something we’re all proud of.”

As Gary walked off, Emma turned back to Liam, feeling a bit of tension easing. He seemed friendly enough, and she was always game to work with someone who didn’t add to her stress.

“Alright, let’s jump in,” she said, pulling up her designs on her laptop. “I’ve got a few ideas, but I’m open to suggestions.”

For the next hour, they discussed layouts, colors, and user experience strategies, each bringing ideas to the table. Liam was a natural at blending creativity with practicality, and Emma found herself genuinely enjoying his input. She appreciated his humor, too—a subtle, dry wit that made her smile despite the stressful project.

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.