The chime above the café door rang softly as Kael stepped inside.
The air carried the warmth of roasted beans and baked bread. Faint music hummed from the speakers, blending with murmured conversations and the occasional hiss of the espresso machine.
He spotted Lira immediately. She was seated near the corner window, sunlight brushing through her hair as she absently stirred her drink. Her fingers fidgeted with a napkin, a sign of nerves she tried to hide.
Today, she had left her uniform behind. A simple sweater, light gray, and a careful touch of confidence that did not quite reach her posture.
When she looked up and met his eyes, she smiled. It was small, uncertain, but real.
Kael crossed the room and took the seat opposite her. "You beat me here," he said with a smile.
"I like being early," she murmured. "It gives me time to prepare what I'll say."
"That sounds like you," he replied.
The corner of her mouth lifted, and the tension eased slightly.
A waitress arrived to take their orders. Lira asked for tea and a croissant. Kael chose coffee and something heavier — eggs, toast, whatever came quickest. Once the waitress left, silence filled the space between them. Not an awkward one, but a quiet that waited to be shaped.
Kael leaned back, studying her. "I didn't think you'd actually call."
She glanced down at her cup. "I almost didn't."
"What changed your mind?"
Lira hesitated. "Aria," she admitted finally. "She thinks I spend too much time in my head."
"That sounds like a friend who knows you too well," Kael said lightly.
She laughed softly. "She's impossible to argue with."
The food arrived soon after. Steam curled from the plates, mixing with the aroma of roasted beans. Lira's tea fogged the window beside her.
For a while, they ate in companionable quiet.
Then she spoke. "You said you were working on something… important."
Kael wiped his hands on a napkin and nodded. "I am. A system called Aegis. It analyzes security breaches before they happen."
Lira's brow furrowed. "Before?"
He nodded. "Predictive defense. It learns from every attempt, adapts, and seals vulnerabilities before anyone even tries again."
"That sounds… impossible."
"Most things sound that way until someone makes them real," he said, his tone calm but sure.
Lira stirred her tea, her eyes thoughtful. "You must have spent years building it."
"Years of fragments," he replied. "Ideas, failures, long nights. But the core works now."
There was a pause, the kind that hummed with unspoken meaning. Then he said quietly, "That's why I wanted to meet you."
Her spoon clinked against the cup. "Me?"
Kael nodded. "I know you don't see it yet, but you think in ways that most people don't. You understand behavior. Patterns. That's what I need."
Lira blinked, clearly unsure if he was serious. "Kael, I'm not an expert in anything. I just work in a store and try not to break things."
He smiled faintly. "And yet, you rearranged an entire section once because customers kept getting confused about pricing, didn't you?"
She froze. "How do you know that?"
He shrugged. "Let's say I did my homework. The store's sales reports improved after that change. You noticed a flaw no one else did. That's not luck, that's instinct."
Her cheeks colored slightly. "That was just common sense."
"Then the world needs more of it," he said simply.
She met his gaze, still skeptical. "So you want me to tell you how to sell your software?"
"That's part of it," Kael replied. "But not just that. I want you to help me shape it. People think technology is about machines. It's not. It's about trust. You understand how people decide who to trust."
"I don't know if I can do that."
"You can," he said softly. "You already do. You just don't realize it."
The silence stretched again, but this time, it was thoughtful. Lira looked down at her cup, her reflection rippling in the tea.
"I came here expecting breakfast," she said finally. "Not a proposal."
Kael chuckled. "Why not both?"
Her laugh escaped before she could stop it, quiet but genuine. "You really don't give up, do you?"
"I prefer to think of it as persistence."
Lira rested her chin on her hand, studying him. "And if I say yes, what happens then?"
"Then we learn together," he said. "No promises, no pressure. Just exploration. If you decide it's not for you, we walk away."
She considered this for a long moment. "And what do I get?"
"A share," Kael said. "Not a paycheck. A piece of what we build."
She blinked, caught off guard. "You'd actually give me that?"
"I don't need followers," he said quietly. "I need someone who sees what I might miss."
Lira exhaled, her fingers tracing the edge of the cup. Then, with a small but steady nod, she said, "Alright. I'll try."
Kael's smile deepened. "That's all I ask."
The waitress came by to refill their cups, and for a moment, it felt almost ordinary — two people sharing breakfast and quiet ambition.
But beneath that calm, something had already shifted.
For Lira, it was the start of something uncertain and thrilling.
For Kael, it was confirmation that the pieces were falling exactly where he wanted them to.