The CEO's Archnemesis

The scent of cardboard clung to the air in Alexandra Brook's childhood bedroom, a constant reminder of unpacked boxes and her temporary status. Despite being back home in Miami, the comfort of familiar surroundings was overshadowed by the boisterous energy of her family – her thirty-year-old brother and his friend raiding the kitchen, and her parents' endless bantering.

Alex slumped into a chair, laptop open but ignored, the stack of rejection letters in her inbox a heavy weight on her confidence. Two years out of the business world felt like an eternity, and the 'medical emergency' on her resume seemed to raise more red flags than opportunities. Just as she wondered what she would do, her phone buzzed. A message from Kate, her best friend, with an address and a time to meet in half an hour.

A shrug, a quick shout of goodbye to her mother (who was, predictably, locked in a floral sample dilemma), and Alex was in her silver Audi, music blasting, heading towards the address, unaware that her day was about to take a spectacularly disastrous turn.