Date: January 27, 2025

  Leo had seen plenty of new hires come and go. Some crashed and burned, others stuck around long enough to become tolerable. A rare few were actually interesting.

  He wasn’t expecting much when the new batch arrived. Another round of fresh faces, all eager to prove themselves, all wide-eyed at the glossy illusion of TechJolt’s hustle culture.

  Then Ada Watanabe walked in.

  She was pretty. That always helped. But Leo had seen more than his fair share of pretty girls, and looks alone never held his attention. What did catch his eye—just slightly—was the way she carried herself.

  Serious. Focused. Not wide-eyed and desperate to impress, but not completely shut down either. She had bite.

  Most juniors either tripped over themselves trying to make a good impression or tried too hard to act like they belonged. Ada? She just existed, like she wasn’t particularly concerned whether people approved of her or not.

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  Leo smirked. That was slightly interesting. Not enough to be intrigued, but enough to poke at.

  He leaned back in his chair, sizing her up with easy amusement. “We don’t do hierarchy here,” he said, tone casual. Then, before she could get too comfortable—“Hey, grab some extra monitor cables, would you?”

  She gave him a flat look.

  Yeah. He was going to have fun with this one.

  The Spoon Incident

  When Hannah suggested an icebreaker, Leo barely paid attention—until Ada opened her mouth.

  “I, uh… collect tiny spoons.”

  Leo snorted, loud enough that Eric glanced at him. He wasn’t even trying to be rude, he just wasn’t expecting that level of weird.

  “Tiny spoons?” Ethan echoed, because of course he did.

  Ada shifted slightly. “Yes. Like, souvenir spoons. The ones people buy at airport gift shops? I have… close to ninety.”

  Leo let out a low chuckle and shot a glance at Eric. Eric, as usual, remained neutral.

  Leo, however, was already storing this away for later.

  End-of-Day Thoughts

  By the time the workday wrapped up, Leo had already settled into his usual rhythm. The new hires had come and gone, most blending into the background.

  Ada?

  She was slightly more interesting than the average junior. Not in a way that actually mattered, but in a way that amused him. She was pretty. She was weird. And now she was Spoon Girl.

  Leo grinned to himself as he shut down his laptop.

  Yeah. That name was definitely sticking.