Sink or Spin
1023 Words
Ava stared at the blinking cursor on her laptop as if it were mocking her.
Liaison to a billion-dollar merger.
Her.
The girl who’d started as an executive assistant two and a half weeks ago. The girl who’d never sat in on an acquisition call, let alone led one.
Her inbox was exploding. Internal teams wanted updates. External firms demanded access. Pentrix executives had sent her four different confidentiality protocols in less than 24 hours.
And Liam?
Radio silent.
She hadn’t seen him since the meeting.
But his fingerprints were all over the chaos she now had to manage.
She adjusted the Bluetooth in her ear and took a deep breath. “Pentrix team, I have the draft redlines from our side, and I’m scheduling a full reconciliation review by Thursday.”
“You realize Thursday is two days away, right?” snapped one of the attorneys.
“Yes,” Ava replied calmly. “Which is why I suggest we all get familiar with the transition clauses today. Check your inbox.”
There was a pause. Then someone muttered, “She’s got bite.”
She ended the call before she could hear more.
Her phone buzzed again — another unknown number.
She answered. “Ava Carter.”
“I need a statement,” said a clipped, urgent voice. “This is Marla Wynn from MarketPulse.”
“Statement on what?”
“The leak, the deal, and the surprise liaison appointment. Is it true you’re dating Liam Hawthorne?”
Ava froze.
“What?”
“Sources say there was a dinner. Intimate. And that you’re a ‘close companion.’ MarketPulse goes live in one hour. Any quote from you before we publish?”
The blood drained from her face.
“I’m not commenting,” she managed to say.
Click.
The line went dead.
Ava stood up so fast her chair screeched against the floor. People were staring, but she didn’t care. She stormed into the elevator, palms sweating, vision tunneling. By the time the doors opened on the executive floor, she was already dialing Grace from PR — but no answer.
Ten minutes later, she was in Liam’s office.
He looked up, calm as ever, dark eyes unreadable.
“Did you tell anyone about dinner?” she demanded.
“No.”
“Well, someone did. MarketPulse is about to run a story that I’m your companion.”
A flicker of amusement crossed his face. “You’re angry.”
“Yes, I’m angry!” she hissed. “They’re framing me as a PR distraction — not a professional.”
He stood slowly, rounding the desk. “Let them.”
“What?”
“Let them think what they want.”
Her voice dropped. “You don’t care what this does to me?”
Liam’s expression shifted. “I care more than you think.”
Ava’s chest tightened. “Then stop letting me be your shadow.”
He stepped closer. “You think you’re in my shadow?”
“I think I’m doing real work and being turned into a headline about your love life.”
Silence pulsed between them.
Then he said, quietly, “I didn’t hire you to disappear. But if you’re going to stand in this storm, you can’t flinch every time lightning strikes.”
The room suddenly felt suffocating.
And then: a knock.
They both turned.
It was Grace, Liam’s head of communications, holding a tablet with the MarketPulse article.
“It’s already out,” she said. “And it’s worse than expected.”
She handed it to Ava.
HAWTHORNE’S NEW FAVORITE: Inside the Rapid Rise of Ava Carter
Beneath the headline: a grainy photo of Ava and Liam at the restaurant, mid-conversation. His hand on her back. Her laughing.
She felt sick.
“I can kill it on socials,” Grace said. “But only if we have a firm response.”
Ava’s voice cracked. “Do we deny it?”
Liam didn’t blink. “No.”
She turned to him, stunned. “No?”
He met her gaze. “We say nothing. They’ll wonder longer.”
Grace looked between them. “That’s not risk-free.”
“It’s also not wrong,” Liam said quietly.
Ava dropped the tablet onto the desk, heart racing. “I’m not some mystery woman in your world, Liam. I work here. I earned this.”
His eyes flicked over her face, searching.
Then, softly: “You’re not my shadow. You’re the only one in this building who doesn’t follow.”
Her breath caught.
The moment held — until Grace cleared her throat. “So… we’re silent?”
Liam didn’t look away from Ava. “For now.”
Grace left. The door clicked shut behind her.
Ava stood still, the words vibrating in her bones.
“You could have denied it,” she whispered.
“I didn’t want to.”
Before she could respond, her phone buzzed with an internal ping.
URGENT: Pentrix request for live interview tomorrow — re: leadership transparency.
Her stomach dropped. “They want a live interview. Tomorrow.”
Liam raised an eyebrow. “You’re ready.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
“I’ve never done an interview. Let alone one under this kind of scrutiny.”
Liam leaned against his desk, arms crossed. “Then now’s your moment.”
Ava swallowed hard. “If I blow this, it’s not just me who takes the hit.”
“No,” Liam said. “It’s me. Which is why I wouldn’t let you near that camera unless I believed in you.”
Her heart beat faster.
He never said things like that. Not directly. Not in ways that made her forget what room they were in.
She stepped back toward the door, trying to steady herself.
But just before she opened it, Liam’s voice stopped her.
“Ava.”
She turned.
“If they think you got here because of me…” He paused. “Make sure they leave knowing it was in spite of me.”
She didn’t speak. Didn’t need to.
But when she walked out, she wasn’t the same woman who walked in.
--
- Writer
