Mondays

Daniel Merrell was just about the most competent man you'd ever meet.

He was sharp, strategic, and always on top of everything. He worked efficiently and knew exactly what to say and do to complete a project ahead of its deadline. He counted everything-steps, coffee cups, and even the number of times he said "strategic alignment" in meetings (well, actually, Mallory does that for him. She's been keeping a tally: forty-seven and counting, apparently).

But he was terrified of everything. Mondays, coffee machines that judge him, elevators with other people in them, the very idea of anyone knowing he exists... even office succulents on the brink of death that definitely have opinions about his life choices.

(Don't ask him how he knows that. He just does.)

But most of all, he's terrified of Ava Thomas.

Not because she's intimidating. Because she's kind. She sees through his corporate jargon and anxiety, yet she still smiles at him across the office. She greets him in the mornings and engages in small talk, simply because she doesn't want the new guy to feel lonely. She even offers to help him out, despite him giving her no reason to do so.

He had never met anyone quite like her before. And now... he's doomed.

Now, he has to decide: stay safe and alone, or do the terrifying work of becoming someone not only worthy of a second chance at love after facing devastating heartbreak, but someone actually capable of receiving it.