The taste of the white dessert wine burned down Callum's throat. It was a sweeter beverage of choice, an unopened bottle from a couple of years ago that one of his exes had gifted. It was probably an expensive, limited edition bottle, but Callum didn't care.

"I think you're exaggerating," Charlotte said through his phone. He had placed her on speaker as he guzzled the drink down like a parched man. It continued to burn, and he was already feeling the effect of the wine after half a glass. In hindsight, he should've read the alcohol content before deciding on this bottle.

He burped and glared at the phone as if she were in front of him. "Obviously, I fucked it up."

Callum could almost envision the eye roll she made as she scoffed. "Callum, it couldn't possibly have gone that bad. It's not like he walked out on you, right?"

He mumbled a "no" before taking another swig of his drink. "But he definitely didn't like what I was saying."

"And that would be?"

Callum sighed and told her about the plane ticket and about Chris, or what he had gathered in the short time Logan had talked about him. "I just thought I could be helpful. Since—since I've been in that situation before."

"With Tess?"

Callum hummed. "I don't think she'd take it that far, but she did yell and cursed at me a lot."

"I know."

"Keyed my car," Callum listed off. "Ruined my things."

"Threatened to sue you for everything."

Callum nodded lazily. "It's not like I'm trying to make him uncomf—Umcomfer...You know what I mean."

Callum frowned when he heard her chuckle, his eyes feeling heavier by the second.

"I know," she said. "But I think you're being a big baby about it and overthinking it."

"No," he drawled. "What do you mean?"

She sighed. "Callum, of course, he's going to be weirded out about his ex. He just found out he's coming to town; he's probably just nervous and scared about it. Didn't the ticket say he'd fly out tomorrow?"

Callum muttered a word that he hoped sounded like tomorrow. "But he said I'm just his boss. And that I shouldn't meddle."

"Just give him time, Callum. Let him figure out his feelings and emotions first. He'd obviously got a lot to worry about with his ex, right? I mean, you were trying to convince yourself that dating was pointless after the whole Tess fiasco, remember? You are his boss first; you know he greatly values his work. Of course, he'll be cautious about seeing you past your job title."

Callum groaned before downing another large gulp of wine. "And if he doesn't? What if he goes back to New York for good with his stupid ex, never to be seen again."

There was a pause on the line, and Callum wondered if she had hung up. "When have you ever been the type to give up that easily?"

Callum stared at the rim of his wine glass. His whole head hurt, the room spinning slightly. He often thought of where he shirked from responsibilities and hid away from his coworkers or important business partners. Hadn't that been the same as giving up? Was she talking to the right Callum? 

He swirled the glass's contents in a spiral, careful not to spill on his couch, but thought about Charlotte's words. He did continue to be the CEO even after his dad had threatened to disown him. It wasn't entirely the same thing as not giving up, though, right? He couldn't remember being that adamant and persistent on anything before—maybe one of his past relationships?

"Listen, Callum," her voice was stern. "I know you think that relationships never work out for you. But trust me when I say that despite whom your father wants you to date or eventually marry, we both want you to be happy. Your mother would, too, if she were still here. I see how you look at Logan, how you talk about him. And I know how apprehensive you get around new interests, but this still could work. Obviously, it'll take more than just a dinner or talks in the elevator for Logan to be interested, but at least try."

Callum poured a second glass of wine, her words slowly sinking in. Despite how buzzed he was already feeling, Charlotte's sincerity still cut through the haze of the alcohol.

"I..." his voice trailed, almost losing his train of thought. "I'm just...scared."

"I know," she responded. Callum was surprised she had heard him, half-surprised he had admitted it out loud. He was scared, though. He was absolutely terrified of the idea and the thought of this ending in massive backlash for both of them. He didn't want to get hurt and, most importantly, didn't want to hurt Logan.

"How about we schedule a team meeting? For the project we assigned. A group outing where it's less intimidating. Logan has other people he can talk to, and you can start with small talk. He's free to ignore you if he wants there. It'll be more comfortable with food and drinks—not that you need any more." Callum knew deep down he'd forget what she was saying but hummed in agreement anyway, sipping on his second glass of wine. "And if things go well, maybe you could offer him a ride home? It's definitely more casual than taking him to a dinner spot by yourself."

"I admit," he mumbled. "Bad idea. My bad."

She made a sound of agreement. "The least you could've done was run the idea through me. I'm practically a dating coach on top of being your secretary."

"Yeah, yeah," he said. "A shitty dating coach if I'm still single."

"If you would follow my advice, you wouldn't have this problem."

"You know I hate it when you're right," he muttered, taking another sip of the wine. At this point, it didn't burn down his throat, but the dizziness was only making him agreeable and willing to sleep it off for a day or two.

There was a loud noise from the other phone line, a little whispering before Charlotte said, "look, just think about it, Callum. A team dinner."

"I never go to those."

"It would help make you seem more approachable. And you can see and talk to Logan without the awkwardness of being out on a dinner date."

"Wasn't a date."

She sighed. "Jut promise me you'll show up even if it's just for a little. I know the others will probably talk shit about you, but you can look out for Logan that way. You've made small talk with him before; this is no different."

Callum's eyes were closed, his lips pressed against the glass. "Fine."

"Good, I'll pencil it in. If you'll excuse me, I've got a lovely lady to entertain for the night."

Callum frowned. "Lady—"

Charlotte hung up before he could continue. Callum squinted his eyes at the phone before her words finally dawned on him. "Damnit, Charlotte. Just rub it in...."

Callum downed the rest of the second glass of wine before setting it on the coffee table. It wasn't long until he shut his eyes, propped his feet up on the couch, and fell into a deep slumber.

***

Logan hadn't taken the same elevator when Callum got to work—granted, Callum was an hour and a half late. He wore his darkest sunglasses, but even those couldn't ease the hangover he was fighting. His finger pushed it as far up the bridge of his nose to block out more of the elevator's lights. Callum made a mental note to look into dimmer lights and wondered if he could convince Charlotte to keep the lights off in his office to spare him the misery.

Like any morning after he drank his sorrows away, Callum regretted it. He had no one else to blame but still moped about it like he had been forced into it.

Nobody had joined him on his elevator ride up to the office, which he was grateful for. When the door finally opened to the 37th floor, Charlotte was waiting for him with her arms crossed. Not a good sign.

"You're late."

"I'm aware." He moved to walk past her to his desk, but she spun on her heel and gripped the back of Callum's jacket.

"Where are you going? Meeting is in ten minutes."

Callum's head whipped around to her so fast that a wave of pain crept up. He cursed. "Ten?"

"Yes, ten."

He groaned. "You couldn't postpone it? Or just send an email out to them?"

"I've emailed them already, but I think you should talk to the teams yourself."

Callum pouted, tapping his feet like a toddler would during a tantrum. "Why?"

She rolled her eyes. "So they know you're serious, obviously. And to tell them that you are personally going to be there."

"They're not going to show up if I'm going. They all hate me."

Charlotte smirked before pulling out a black card from her back pocket. "Not if you're treating."

Callum instinctively checked his pants pocket, feeling for his wallet. "Where did you get that?"

She waved it around in the air. "You have at least ten cards that I know of, Callum. You leave them scattered around everywhere! It's a miracle someone hasn't wiped your accounts. You should thank me for cleaning out your desks every quarter, or you'd be missing a lot of credit cards."

He swiped it from her hands after she had messed with him and pulled it out of reach. "Fine. But I don't like this idea if I haven't made that obvious."

"Oh, I know," she said. "But you won't like it if Logan slips right through your fingers and books a one-way ticket to New York now, would you?"

His death glare would have been effective if Callum had remembered that he was wearing his darkest shades and hadn't taken them off. "Did you forward the info?"

"Of course, I did. Yesterday, in fact." She smiled before glancing at her watch. "Better get going, four minutes. Say hi to Logan for me."

Callum grumbled under his breath before turning to her. "When I return, you must tell me about your lady friend you mentioned last night. Don't think I forgot about it."

Callum didn't hear her witty response as he walked out of the office and back to the elevators.

———

A/N: As part of the ONC hype, I will be shouting out some of my fellow ONC peeps from the discord server I'm in! These individuals may or may not be entering into the official ONC, but will be participating in a version of ONC (or NONC) where they will still be following along with the prompts and deadlines.

For this chapter's promo, we have the amazingly talented cmf_wright's Wings Flings and Demon Kings

Blurb: Nirael has never been the best angel. A little too loud, always in the wrong place at the wrong time, she constantly finds herself written up by her archangel superiors for minor misdemeanors. When her Remedial Goodness program forces her to do a capstone project on Earth, she's determined this will be the moment she finally turns her life around. That is, until she meets a demon who's about as bad at being evil as she is at being good...