VEYOR'S COMPANY
The office felt emptier than usual that week. Isla arrived early, clutching her bag a little too tightly, still haunted by the previous weeks' fiasco with Max. Every nerve in her body seemed on edge, and no matter how many times she told herself to focus, her mind wandered.
Kaelen hadn't appeared all week. Not once.
At first, she felt relieved. No intimidating stare, no silent measurements of her mistakes. But relief quickly turned to unease. Why hasn't he come? she wondered.
Her thoughts drifted elsewhere. She pushed aside the memory of "Mall Guy". Childish, and her imagination shifted to the CEO. How he stood up for her in front of her ex husband. She pictured him walking past her desk, his tall, broad-shouldered frame commanding attention without a word. She imagined the calm way he would look at her, cool and unreadable, noticing every small gesture, every tremble of her hand. Her pulse raced. She shook her head.
Focus on Work. Stop thinking about him.
By mid-morning, Isla's concentration had completely unraveled. She misfiled documents, and mixed up client emails. Her coworkers whispered behind her back, though she tried to ignore them.
"Rough week?" someone asked, glancing at her frazzled state.
She smiled weakly. "Yeah... just a lot to adjust to."
"You know, consistent mistakes like this can get you dismissed." Another colleague chipped in. Isla's heart raced.
Every small mistake made her heart pound harder. She glanced toward the elevator constantly, imagining the CEO appearing at any moment and seeing her mistakes. She felt exposed even when he wasn't there, as if he could somehow sense her distraction from miles away.
Her fantasies became more vivid and more distracting. She imagined him kissing her passionately, fighting for her, making love to her and getting married to her. Her cheeks burned, her hands trembled, and she typed shakily, sending yet another email with a typo.
"Why am I thinking about him like this?" she whispered to herself.
Afternoon dragged on, but Isla's mind refused to settle. Every soft noise, every elevator click, made her heart leap. She imagined him appearing, just stepping out, calm, precise, silent, yet making her feel completely exposed.
Her focus shattered further. She misfiled two more folders, sent a wrong report to a client, and dropped a cup of coffee on her desk. Each mistake made her pulse spike, yet she couldn't stop. Her thoughts were consumed by him — the CEO.
Weeks... he's been gone for weeks… why now do I think about him constantly?
She exhaled and tried to sit upright, pushing the thoughts away. But it was futile. She imagined every movement he might make, every word he might say if he were here, and her mind raced uncontrollably.
"Miss Merrin." Sheila called out, dragging Isla back to reality.
"Ma'am." Isla staggered to answer.
"This letter was sent from the CEO to you."
Her heart pounded. What could be written. Is he also fantasizing about me? Is he the Mall guy? Isla thought as she took the letter.
"Miss Merrin, Mr. Veyor has noticed your constant mistakes and he's giving you two days to get your shit together, otherwise, he would dismiss you. But the letter contains a different message probably." Sheila concluded and left.
Finally, near the end of the day, she tried to steady herself. She glanced at the elevator, almost expecting it to chime, almost hoping it wouldn't.
A soft metallic sound echoed across the floor, her chest tightened, heart pounding and hands frozen over her keyboard.
The doors slid open, but it was just a colleague of hers that came in, she got relieved for a minute.
The silence was almost unbearable.
Isla's mind spun. Her heart hammered in her chest. She bit her lip, whispering to herself, "I'm going to work for 10 hours today. And I can't let mere fantasies make me loose this job."
But deep down, she knew the truth: she was obsessed, distracted, and vulnerable. And the longer he stayed away, the more she imagined him — the tall, cold, silent figure of her CEO — lurking in her thoughts, a phantom she couldn't escape.
ISLA'S APARTMENT
"And what does the letter read, Issy?" Tahlia asked nervously.
"Said I've been distracted lately and causing a lot of mistake at work, which wouldn't help in the development of the company. Also complained about having a visitor during work hours."
"A visitor?" Tahlia asked,
"Max"
"Oooh, him."
"Yeah"
Tahlia studied her sister's face carefully. "Issy. why would he come to your office?"
Isla let out a shaky breath and dropped onto the couch. "I don't know. He just walked in like he still owned me. Like nothing ever happened between us."
"That's insane," Tahlia muttered. "Did he say any other thing to you that you refused to share with me?"
Isla's fingers tightened around the letter. "He said I've changed. That I look tired and maybe I'm not handling the 'big girl job' as well as I thought I would." Her voice cracked slightly. "He said maybe leaving him was the biggest mistake of my life."
Tahlia's eyes flashed. "That manipulative—"
"I know!" Isla snapped, then softened immediately. "I know. But he said it so calmly. Like he was concerned. Like he still cared."
"And you let that get to you?"
Isla blinked back sudden tears. "I tried not to, acted like nothing happened. But my hands were shaking. I told you about the multiple mistakes I made, even after two weeks of the encounter." She laughed bitterly. "Apparently, the CEO noticed."
Tahlia's expression shifted.
"That's the worst part. The letter wasn't just from HR, it was approved by him."
Silence fell between them again, heavier this time.
"Maybe this is what Max wanted, to instill that fear in you again, and make you feel like you're worthless with him" Tahlia said quietly. "To throw you off. To make you doubt yourself."
Isla stared at the letter, her chest tightening. "Well, congratulations to him," she whispered. "Because it's working." Her phone buzzed. It was a message, from Max.
You look beautiful when you're falling apart. Isla.
Her blood ran cold.
Slowly, she lifted her head toward the window. Across the street, a black car sat parked. Engine running. She walked towards the door.
"Where are you headed, Issy?" Tahlia asked, but got no response.
Isla left the apartment and walked towards the car. She knew he was back, and this time around, she might go with him.