Who Did I Sleep With?

CHAPTER 3

“Can I have a minute with you?” Daniel said, stopping at my desk.

I blinked, snapping out of my thoughts, and looked up at him. For a second, I wasn’t sure if I’d heard him right.

“Sure,” I replied, offering a small, polite smile.

“Come with me.” That was all he said before turning and walking away.

I glanced at Lizzy but she raised both hands slightly, shrugging with a don’t ask me look. Great.

I pushed my chair back and stood, smoothing my skirt nervously before trailing after him as he led me to the meeting room.

The meeting room was quiet when we stepped in, the noise from the office immediately fading behind the walls. It wasn’t particularly large, but it was neat.

A long rectangular table stretched across the center, surrounded by six chairs three on each side. A small screen was mounted on the wall opposite the door, and a stack of neatly arranged documents sat at one end of the table. Everything about the room felt controlled and professional.

Daniel walked to one side of the table and pulled out a chair, sitting down without a word. He didn’t look at me immediately, just adjusted the files in front of him. Then he gestured briefly to the seat across from him.

“Sit.” He said, and I sat down quietly.

The silence that followed was uncomfortable. He finally looked up. His expression was the same as always calm, unreadable, giving nothing away.

“I went through the campaign draft you submitted this morning,” he said.

My stomach dropped slightly.

“And?” He straightened, his gaze steady on me.

“It’s incomplete.” My fingers tightened slightly in my lap.

“I….”

“You missed key details in the client brief,” he continued, cutting me off without raising his voice. “And your timing for the work doesn’t match what the client expects.”

His tone wasn’t harsh.

But it wasn’t soft either.

I swallowed, trying to gather my thoughts. “I’ll fix it.”

He studied me for a second before saying “That’s not like you.”

I looked up at him, caught off guard.

His expression didn’t change, but there was something subtle in his eyes, like he was trying to read me without asking directly.

“I’ll correct it,” I repeated quickly.

There was a brief pause before he nodded.

“Do that.”

Silence fell between us again. I waited for him to say something else, to go into more detail… but he didn’t. Instead, he simply held my gaze for a moment longer before looking away, reaching for the file again like that was all he had called me in for.

“Get it done before the end of the day.”

Dismissed. Just like that. I stood slowly, pushing the chair back quietly. My fingers curled around the handle as I pulled the door open.

“Stella.” I froze.

That wasn’t Daniel. The voice was different. The kind that didn’t need to be loud to be heard. Slowly, I lifted my head. And there he was.

He stood a few steps away in front of his office, posture relaxed but firm like he owned the space without needing to prove it. And he did. His presence alone shifted the atmosphere.

The office didn’t fall silent, but it changed. Conversations dipped slightly, movements became more measured… like everyone was aware of him without looking directly at him.

His gaze settled on me, steady and unreadable. For a second, my breath caught.

“Sir,” I said quickly, straightening instinctively.

“I need you in my office.”He said without any need for explanations and no room for questions. Just a statement.

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

He had already turned, walking toward his office without checking if I was following. Of course, I was.

I stepped into the office of Noah Reid the CEO of NovaEdge Marketing and quietly closed the door behind me.

Unlike the meeting room, his office was surrounded by glass walls. From the inside, everything was visible: the movement of employees, the flow of the office but from the outside, it reflected just enough to keep whatever happened here private.

A large desk sat at the center, clean except for a sleek laptop, a few neatly arranged files, and a pen placed precisely beside them. A low shelf lined one side of the wall, holding a few awards and books, nothing excessive, just enough to speak for itself.

Everything was in its place. Just like him. By the time I turned after closing the door, he was already seated, his attention briefly on his screen as he powered it on.

Then he looked up and I really saw him. He couldn’t have been much older than me, mid to late twenties at most but there was nothing uncertain about him. There was a quiet confidence in the way he carried himself.

His features were sharp, defined, but it was his light green eyes that held my attention. A sharp contrast against his dark hair and composed expression.

“You called for me, sir.” He didn’t reply immediately.

The only sound in the room was the faint hum of his system powering on. Then he said..

“Sit.”