Chapter Fifteen: A Ride to Work

Layla peeked at her watch and raised an eyebrow, "Mr. Frucht, is this a new trend for you to clock in at this hour?" She had this image in her head of CEOs strutting in their offices before 8 a.m., sipping on iced coffees and dialing into video calls across the globe as the sun rose. But Tristan's delay didn't quite fit the bill. Tristan stayed quiet with a steely expression while his assistant James, in the passenger seat, chimed in, "Usually, we arrive at 7:20..." James stopped short as he felt Tristan's icy stare bore into him, shutting him up real quick. Tristan's lips curved into a slight grin as he explained, "I'm not busy today, so I figured I'd start a little later." Layla gave a nod. Tristan casually handed her a paper bag from the nearby console, saying, "James got this, but it's not my thing, so it's all yours." However, the bakery's logo on the packaging bag was so obvious that Layla couldn't ignore it. She knew how difficult it was to buy food at this particular bak