Meera's POV – "Not-So-Perfect Plan
Lara was picking at her sandwich, eyes flicking toward the far end of the cafeteria where Jane sat alone, scrolling on her phone.
"She's here early today," she muttered.
Addison smirked over her iced latte. "Guess the teachers' pet wants to impress the boss."
I let out a small laugh, though inside it wasn't funny. Jane had only been here a short while, yet somehow she was already… comfortable. Too comfortable. Zayn might not have been warm to her, but I'd noticed the small changes — his tone wasn't as sharp, his attention lingered just a second longer when she spoke. It was enough to irritate me.
"We're not letting her float through like this," I said, keeping my voice low. "Zayn needs to see she's sloppy."
Addison leaned closer. "How?"
I glanced over again. Jane had stood up, phone in hand, probably taking a call, leaving her lunch and a neat stack of documents on the table.
Easy.
"Watch," I murmured.
I walked past casually, sliding one report halfway out of her stack. My hand was steady, practiced. I swapped it with an old template from the training archives—same header, wrong figures—one she wouldn't notice until it was too late. A simple mistake, but in this company, mistakes cost you your credibility.
By the time Jane came back, I was seated again, nodding along to something Lara was saying about her weekend plans.
It was supposed to be perfect.
But later that afternoon, I heard Zayn's voice through his open office door.
"Good eye. If this had gone out, it would have been a mess."
Jane's reply was casual, almost cheerful. "Amira helped me double-check this morning. She noticed the numbers didn't match the recent schedule."
My stomach sank. Amira. That ever-helpful admin from floor two.
Instead of embarrassment, Jane walked out with a tiny smile, as if she'd just earned another invisible badge of competence.
When I met Lara and Addison near the elevators, Lara only muttered, "Guess that didn't work."
Addison shrugged. "We'll try something else."
I smiled faintly, but my jaw was tight. Because the truth was… Zayn didn't just let her off. He'd thanked her.
Amira's POV – "Just Helping Out"
The elevator doors slid open to the first floor, and I stepped out, coffee in hand, balancing a small stack of training schedules under my arm. I spotted Jane at her desk, frowning slightly at a report in front of her.
"You look like you're reading a bad breakup text," I teased, setting my coffee down on the edge of her table.
She gave a small laugh, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Just… double-checking something before it goes to Zayn. Don't want to mess up."
I leaned over out of habit — I couldn't help myself when it came to numbers and formats. My eyes skimmed the page, and something felt off. "Wait, hold on…" I tapped the sheet. "These figures are from the March schedule. But we're in July."
Her brows furrowed. "Seriously? I printed this straight from the shared folder."
I shook my head. "Someone must have uploaded an old version. Here—" I slid the paper toward her laptop. "Pull up the latest file from the 'Final Schedules' folder. Compare it."
Sure enough, the numbers didn't match.
"Wow," Jane exhaled, relief washing over her face. "That could've been bad. Thank you."
I shrugged like it was nothing, but a small part of me was smug. "What are friends for? Besides, you saved me that one time with the copier jam. Consider us even."
She grinned, printing the corrected document while I sipped my coffee. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Meera at her desk across the room, watching us. Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.
I didn't think much of it then. Office politics weren't my thing. But as I headed back to the elevators, I had a quiet feeling that maybe I'd just stepped into something bigger than I realize