The glass doors of Amira De Fernandez hissed open at 8:03 AM. He came early today; it was a bright Monday, as he took a glance at his diamond-sleekk blackwristwatchh. The tall high-rise building stood still as Mr Brown Caldwell owns almost 48% shares and assets of the company, while his mother, Amira, owns the rest. He walked in like he owned the place, because technically, he did. Or at least Brown Caldwell did. And today, he had to be him again. The scent of espresso, paper, and cologne from different directions filled the air, but it was Jasmine's voice that hit him first. "No, no. Push the launch meeting to Friday. If Paris wants a preview, they'll get it on my schedule. Okay!" she said out loud with her phone between her shoulder and her ear. She looked official, dressed in a Dior limited edition brown suit with a white tuxedo inside and a tight light brown skirt just to match, and Mr Brown Caldwell always compliments her whenever she dresses in his favourite colour, but today he just glared at her, and her milk-colored heels made her shine. She stood near the boardroom entrance, her heels sharp, her blazer tighter than it needed to be, her phone pressed to one ear; her presence was commanding. He didn't know she worked there; this might ruin his plan with Joshua, he thought for a while. She turned when she saw him. Smile warmly. Eyes sharp. "You're late." She started, "Three minutes," he said. "Three minutes later than usual," she quipped, stepping forward to straighten his collar, an old habit. She does it every time he comes to the office. He let her straighten his collar, the way she always did. The way Brown liked it. But it made him feel like she was fixing someone else.
"You good?" she asked, just staring at his confused face.
He smiled. "Perfect." Brown Caldwell's body moved toward the elevator.
But inside, the man trapped beneath the suit was already searching the building for someone else. Someone with sad eyes and a voice he couldn't stop hearing. The office was dead quiet by 8:17 p.m. Most of the staff had signed out hours ago. Jasmine had left after the final call with Paris, lips brushing his cheek and whispering something about dinner reservations he forgot the moment she said them. He stayed behind. He didn't know why. Or maybe… he did, or perhaps he wasn't alone in the office at that time. A knock at the door broke the silence. As Joshua walked inside slowly. His shirt sleeves were rolled up. Laptop under his arm. "You said you needed help reviewing the redesign proposal?, "Yeah. Come in," he said, "was about to put a call through your line." He added as Joshua stepped in and shut the door behind him.
The click echoed like something sacred. Or dangerous. He crossed the room and set the laptop on the desk, fingers brushing over papers, straightening them without thinking. "The Asia file's here, but the Paris folders", Joshua said before he was interrupted, "Forget the files." Joshua looked up. "Sir?" "Just… stay a minute," Julian said, softer now. "You're not in a rush, are you?" Joshua hesitated. "No. I guess not." Joshua was a bit confused. MrMrrown normally would make him write and edit up to thousands of words in a night, even though he's just an intern. The silence between them grew heavy. Mr. brown stared at him, but Julian fell in love with him. Outside, car lights flickered through the window. Inside, just the quiet hum of the AC and two hearts beating too loud. Julian moved around the desk, slowly. His eyes were on Joshua. He didn't touch him. He didn't dare. But he got close enough to feel the warmth radiating off him. Joshua noticed and swallowed. Also feeling scared, is it a trap or something real, because he knows Mr Brown is very rude to gay people, he sacked a lot of his workers who were gay too.
"Can I ask you something?" he said. "Sure."You've been… different." Julian's breath caught, his heart racing, "Why does everybody say that? Nothing has changed, just decided to be calm", he added. Well, Mr Brown, it's not in a bad way," Joshua added quickly. "Just… like you're becoming someone else." Then his voice became softer. "Or it's more of someone else is in you. Just saying." Joshua can't know anything about the soul swap. He stared at Joshua for a while, his lips parted, whether to lie, to explain, to confess, but nothing came out. And then Joshua stepped closer. "I don't know why I'm telling you this," he said, "but… I feel like I've known you before." Well, you do work here, so that explains that, Brown said that, so he wouldn't blow his cover to Joshua. "I know, but something just felt off on Wednesday morning when you arrived at the office", Joshua said as he drew closer to Mr Brown; their hands brushed. No words. Just heat in the atmosphere. He glanced at the AC, and it was working perfectly. Julian didn't kiss him; he just stared at him.
But he wanted to. God, he wanted to. Instead, he stepped back. "You should go," he said voice barely above a whisper.
Joshua looked at him, confused; he was vividly hurt. But he nodded and closed his laptop, then walked straight to the door. Then paused. "Whatever is happening to you," he said, "you don't have to hide it from me." And then he was gone.
Now Julian (in Brown) sat on his chair, thinking of what just happened. Why didn't he steal the moment to taste his lips? At the same time, could this finally clear his doubt that Joshua might be gay and crushed on the real Mr Brown Caldwell, or had a crush on Julian Blackwood, but how?