Almosts and Deadlines

Tamara Kate Delgado thought she had Julian Mateo Reyes figured out.

Eight years of friendship, late-night coding sessions, coffee runs before investor meetings, and almost-confessions were enough to make anyone believe in timing.

Or at least, she used to.

As one of the lead developers in a struggling tech startup in BGC, Tamara spends more time fixing broken systems than dealing with her own feelings. Between impossible deadlines, sleepless nights, and a rubber duck named Duckie serving as her emotional support coworker, love was never supposed to become another problem to debug.

Then Cael Vincent Sarmiento enters the company.

Calm, unreadable, and annoyingly good at what he does, Cael quickly becomes the one person who notices the things Julian never did. The skipped meals. The silent breakdowns. The exhaustion hidden behind sarcasm and caffeine.

For the first time in years, Tamara starts wondering what it feels like to be chosen without hesitation.

But some feelings don't disappear quietly.

And Julian only begins to realize what Tamara means to him when she finally starts letting go.

In a world filled with launch dates, unread messages, and almost-love stories, Tamara learns that some people are meant to break your heart.

And some arrive just in time to fix it.