The Executive Lie

Chapter 14: No Power, No Boundaries

The tension of managing my new double life, meticulously balancing the official VTI Reports and chasing the hidden Vance anomaly, had made me highly stressed and constantly on edge. Avery worked on her end. So I was still focused on trying to track the destination of the strange payments to the secret account on my end. But the long hours I spent only meant less sleep.

It was late on a Thursday evening. The floor of my suite was almost completely silent except for the quiet noise from our data servers. I was alone in my suite deep in one of the VTI reports, when the lights flickered and then went off completely. The whole executive floor became dark. The emergency lights came on, though they were very dim. It was unusual because there has never been a power outage since I started working in Thorne Industries

I walked out of my suite and met Elias in the hallway.

"Clara? Stay right there.", his voice cutting through the silence

Suddenly, the building shook. It wasn't an earthquake, but the violent disturbance made the walls around us shake too.

I lost my balance and was stumbling back. Before I could fall, Elias rushed to me. He reached out to catch me, pulling me to himself to stabilize me against his body.

The mechanical noise ceased, bringing the silence back again.

I was so close to his body. I could feel his cashmere sweater against my cheek. I could feel the warmth of his chest. His grip on me was firm, giving every intention he wanted to keep me safe. The physical sensation was so overwhelming. I looked up, finding his face in the dim light. It was just a small distance from mine. His eyes looked at me to make sure that I was completely fine.

"Are you hurt?" he whispered, his breath warm against my ear.

My mind went blank.The blackout, the mysterious jolting of the building, even my concern over the mysterious Vance account that kept me around late vanished completely at that moment. The only thing I could feel was Elias' hands holding me.

"Not really," my voice sounded thin. "I’m actually a bit just... startled."

“Sorry about that”

“Thank you, Elias”

He didn't release me immediately. For quite a long moment, he just held me there, his eyes looking at mine. The basis for him holding me was over, yet his emotional concern remained. The tension in the air was far more tangible to me than the shaking of the building.

Finally, he let loose his grip on me. He made sure I had gained my balance on my feet, before stepping back slowly, breaking the contact with agonizing slowness.

"It's likely just a power surge impacting the main elevators," he stated. He pulled out his phone and walked towards his suite. I'll call building management. They should be able to restore full power soon."

He didn't apologize for holding me. He saw it as the right thing to do at the moment, and he believed I saw it the same way too. But the distance he created now felt vast. I stood, my heart pounding, knowing that this unexpected closeness had done more to demolish our boundaries than any conversation ever could.