Losing Control
1039 Words
Elara spent the entire day trying to avoid Caleb.
It was impossible.
Everywhere she turned, someone mentioned him.
The investors loved him.
The employees feared him.
And apparently, the internet had become obsessed with them.
By lunchtime, at least three different coworkers had casually asked if she was “seeing the CEO.”
She wanted to disappear.
Unfortunately, Caleb seemed completely unaffected by the chaos surrounding them.
That irritated her most.
“You’re distracted again,” Priya said while dropping a folder onto Elara’s desk.
“I’m working.”
“You just typed your password into the calculator app.”
Elara closed her eyes briefly. “I need a vacation.”
“You need therapy.”
Before Elara could respond, her office phone rang.
She immediately knew who it was before answering.
“Miss Voss,” Caleb’s assistant said politely, “Mr. Morrow needs you in Conference Room A.”
Elara frowned slightly. “For what?”
“He said you’d find out when you arrive.”
Of course he did.
Priya looked delighted already. “This is becoming my favorite office drama.”
“You’re a terrible friend.”
“Maybe. But I’m an entertained friend.”
Conference Room A was empty when Elara entered.
Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the city while sunlight reflected softly across the glass table in the center of the room.
She frowned.
“Caleb?”
No answer.
Then the door closed quietly behind her.
Elara turned.
And immediately forgot how breathing worked for a second.
Caleb had removed his suit jacket, and the top buttons of his dress shirt were slightly undone, making him look far less corporate and far more dangerous than usual.
“You called me here for a meeting?” she asked carefully.
“Yes.”
“There’s no one else here.”
“There doesn’t need to be.”
Her pulse quickened instantly.
Caleb walked toward the table slowly before placing a file in front of her.
“The Eastline campaign expansion proposal.”
Elara blinked in surprise.
“You approved it?”
“I improved it.”
She opened the file quickly.
Several new investment figures and international expansion plans had been added across the proposal. The budget alone was three times larger than expected.
Her eyes widened slightly.
“This is huge.”
“It has potential.”
Elara looked back up at him carefully. “Most CEOs wouldn’t personally review this much detail.”
“Most CEOs don’t pay attention.”
The calm confidence in his voice sent warmth through her chest again.
She hated how often that happened now.
“You really read all of my work?” she asked quietly.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Caleb’s gaze stayed on hers.
“Because you matter.”
The answer hit harder than she expected.
For a moment, neither spoke.
The tension between them thickened instantly, filling the quiet conference room.
Elara looked down at the file again just to steady herself.
“This doesn’t feel real sometimes,” she admitted softly.
“What doesn’t?”
“You.”
His expression shifted slightly.
“The billionaire version?”
“The version currently destroying my emotional stability.”
To her frustration, Caleb laughed quietly.
“You’re handling it better than most people would.”
“That’s because most people don’t have history with you.”
The reminder changed the atmosphere slightly.
Caleb leaned one hand against the table, watching her carefully.
“You’ve been thinking about university again.”
It wasn’t a question.
Elara sighed softly. “You make it impossible not to.”
A brief silence passed.
Then Caleb spoke more quietly.
“You know what I remember most?”
Her eyes lifted toward him slowly.
“That day at the fountain.”
Guilt immediately settled heavily inside her chest.
“Caleb—”
“You laughed,” he continued calmly. “And everyone else laughed because you did.”
The honesty in his voice hurt more than anger would have.
Elara looked away. “I was immature.”
“You were cruel.”
The word landed sharply between them.
Because it was true.
And for the first time since Caleb returned, he finally sounded affected by the past too.
“I know,” she whispered.
The room became painfully quiet.
Caleb studied her for a long moment before speaking again.
“The strange thing is… I don’t think you realized how much power you had back then.”
Elara frowned slightly.
“What do you mean?”
“You were the kind of person everyone followed.” His voice remained calm, but something deeper moved underneath it now. “When you decided someone was insignificant, everyone else did too.”
Her chest tightened painfully.
Because she suddenly realized he was right.
Back then, her approval mattered socially.
And she had used that carelessly.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly.
Caleb looked at her quietly.
The words clearly surprised him.
Maybe because she finally sounded sincere.
Then, slowly, he stepped closer.
Close enough to completely destroy her concentration again.
“Elara,” he said quietly, “if I wanted an apology, I would’ve asked for one years ago.”
“Then what do you want?”
The question escaped before she could stop it.
And suddenly the air between them changed completely.
Caleb’s eyes held hers steadily.
Dangerously.
“You really don’t know yet?”
Her heartbeat became uneven instantly.
The tension from the balcony returned all at once.
Stronger this time.
Because now there were no crowds.
No music.
No distractions.
Just the two of them standing far too close inside a quiet conference room.
Elara swallowed slowly. “Caleb…”
His hand moved against the edge of the table beside her, trapping her gently between him and the glass surface without actually touching her.
The move was subtle.
Controlled.
But intimate enough to make her pulse race.
“You keep looking at me like you’re trying to figure out whether I’m dangerous,” he said softly.
“Aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
The honesty nearly destroyed her composure.
Then Caleb lowered his voice slightly.
“But not to you.”
And somehow, those three words affected her even more than the kiss had.
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