PRESSURE
979 Words
Chapter 9
By Friday morning, Tara felt like she was running on nothing except stubbornness, six hours of sleep, too much coffee, too many deadlines. And Jaden watching every single mistake she made.
The elevator doors opened onto the executive floor, and immediately the pressure returned, phones ringing, employees rushing, assistants moving quickly between offices,
“Tara.”
She looked up instantly.
Clara approached holding another stack of files.
Tara nearly cried.
“No,” she whispered dramatically.
Clara smiled. “Board meeting summaries. Mr Jaden wants them before noon.”
“It’s barely eight.”
“And?”
Tara sighed heavily before taking the files. “One day I’m going to collapse in this office.”
Clara’s expression softened. “Just survive today.”
Easy for her to say.
Tara walked toward her desk and froze again while another pile waited there, emails already filled her screen, meeting notifications blinked nonstop.
Her head immediately started hurting.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered.
Before she could even sit down The intercom buzzed.
“Miss Tara. My office. Now.”
Her eyes closed briefly.
Jaden didn’t look up when she entered he stood near the massive windows overlooking the city, dark suit sharp against the gray morning skyline.
Tara stayed near the door. “You wanted to see me, sir?”
“Yes.”
Finally, he turned.
And once again, that intense gaze locked onto her like he saw too much.
“You’re late.”
Her brows pulled together immediately. “You called thirty seconds ago.”
“And yet,” he said calmly, “you’re still late.” Tara bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to stop herself from reacting.
Jaden walked back toward his desk. “There’s a dinner meeting tonight. You’ll attend.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“I already have plans.”
Jaden’s expression didn’t change. “Cancel them.”
“With all due respect, sir, I’ve worked fourteen-hour shifts all week.”
“And?”
That single word nearly broke her patience. “I’m exhausted,” she admitted quietly.
For the first time, Jaden paused and his eyes moved across her face carefully.
The dark circles beneath her eyes something unreadable flickered briefly in his expression then disappeared.
“The meeting is mandatory,” he said coldly.
Of course it was.
Tara nodded stiffly. “Understood.”
“Leave.”
She turned immediately and walked out before she said something dangerous.
The second the doors shut behind her, she exhaled shakily.
“He’s insane,” she muttered under her breath.
Unfortunately for her Ethan heard it.
He walked past holding coffee and nearly choked laughing.
“You’re brave.”
“I’m tired.”
“That man could destroy your career.”
Tara grabbed the files from her desk aggressively. “At this point, he might destroy my sanity first.”
By noon, something went wrong, An investor changed schedules, a report disappeared, two departments sent incorrect numbers and somehow it all landed somehow all of it landed on Tara’s desk.
She moved rapidly between calls, meetings, corrections, and emails while the pressure kept building higher and higher.
Then came the final disaster.
“Tara,” Clara said quickly, approaching her desk. “The presentation for tonight is missing.”
Her stomach dropped instantly.
“What?”
“It’s not in the system.”
“That’s impossible. I uploaded it myself.”
“Well, it’s gone.” Panic hit hard.
That presentation took six hours to complete and Jaden needed it tonight.
Her phone rang suddenly.
CEO OFFICE.
Tara stared at it for half a second before answering carefully.
“Yes, sir?”
“Where is the presentation?”
Tara swallowed hard. “There’s been a system issue. I’m fixing it now.”
“You have one hour.”
The line disconnected.
Tara stared at the phone in horror. “One hour?!” she whispered.
Clara looked sympathetic. “Good luck.”
Luck wasn’t enough.
Forty minutes later, Tara’s vision was blurring from staring at screens, her fingers moved quickly across the keyboard while stress pounded through her chest.
“Tara.”
She looked up sharply.
Ethan stood beside her desk holding water.
“You look pale.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re lying.”
“I don’t have time to collapse right now.”
He lowered his voice carefully. “You need to slow down.”
“I can’t.”
“He’s pushing you too hard.”
Tara laughed weakly. “I know.”
Inside his office, Jaden stood silently watching her through the glass walls.
She looked exhausted buy yet she kept going.
A knock interrupted his thoughts.
“Come in.”
Clara stepped inside holding a file.
“The background report you requested.”
Jaden’s gaze sharpened immediately.
“Leave it.”
She placed it on the desk carefully before leaving.
The office became silent again.
Slowly, Jaden sat down and opened the file.
Name: Tara Winters.
Age: 25 years
Her Employment history, past residence, medical information, Financial records.
Every page only pulled him deeper into frustration.
Because nowhere inside that file was there any explanation for why she didn’t remember him.
his eyes stopped. A school emergency contact form paperclipped near the back.
Child’s Name: Ken Winters.
Jaden froze, the air inside the office suddenly felt too still, too heavy.
His gaze locked onto the name again.
Ken.
His pulse slowed dangerously, Slowly, he turned the page.
Date of birth, his expression darkened instantly the timing and the age.
Every calculation hit him at once.
A cold realization moved through him like a shockwave.
His grip tightened around the file hard enough to wrinkle the paper.
Jaden stared at the file with unreadable eyes almost like he couldn’t believe the words himself
he whispered to himself
“Ken…”
- Writer
