She clinked her cup against his, a spark of camaraderie, or was it challenge?, passing between them. "It will be. We both hate losing, don't we?"
In the months that followed, their professional relationship deepened. Site inspections, late night calls, and high stakes investor meetings became routine. They started reading each other instinctively, often finishing each other's sentences during presentations.
And while the work was the priority, an unspoken tension grew between them, a mixture of mutual respect, rivalry, and something neither fully admitted, even to themselves.
One evening, after wrapping up a particularly grueling strategy session, Chibuzor leaned back in his chair and said, "You're the first person who's ever pushed me this hard on a project."
Olaedo raised an eyebrow, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Is that a compliment or a complaint?"
"Both," he admitted with a rare laugh. "But mostly a compliment."
