CHAPTER FOUR:OFFICE GOSSIP
1275 Words
The Sterling Tower lobby was glass and silence at 8:30 AM.
Emily pushed through the revolving doors with her head down.
She’d worn the blazer again today. Armor. Over a plain white blouse and black pants.
No dress. No pearls. No "beautiful".
Act normal. Be invisible. It was just dinner.
The elevator dinged. 20 people inside. All in suits. All looking at their phones.
Emily squeezed to the back corner.
“Ding” Floor 12. Three women got on.
“Ding” Floor 25. Two men in finance.
“Ding” Floor 39. Executive floor.
The doors opened and 4 people gasped.
Not at her. At their phones.
Emily’s stomach dropped.
One of the women, heels clicking, turned and stared straight at Emily. Then at her phone. Then back at Emily.
She whispered something to her friend.
They both covered their mouths.
The elevator went silent.
Except for the sound of 20 people pretending not to look at her.
When the doors opened on 40, Emily practically ran out.
Her desk was right outside Damian’s office. Glass walls. Everyone could see everything.
And on her desk... there was a coffee. Black. No sugar. Just how she liked it.
A sticky note on it: for the early bird. -D
Emily’s hands shook as she sat down.
She hadn’t told anyone how she took her coffee.
Her computer booted up. 47 unread emails.
And 3 new Slack messages from people she didn’t even know.
Girl. what was that you??
OMG the pics are
Everywhere
Come to the kitchen. Now.
Her phone buzzed. Her roommate.
Emily Are you ok??
Someone sent me a picture of
You with Damian Sterling
Her heart stopped.
She opened i********:. Then t****k. Then the company gossip channel.
There she was.
Photo 1: Walking into the Sterling Hotel. Blazer in her hands. Looking terrified.
Photo 2: Through the restaurant window. Damian leaning over her chair, whispering in her ear. Candlelight on his face.
Photo 3: Her getting into the black car at midnight.
The caption under the most viral one:
CEO Damian Sterling + mystery girl. New assistant??👀
#sterlingHotel #BlackDress
The comments were already at 2k.
She’s so pretty
Gold digger
She’s like 22 he’s 34
I heard she’s nobody. Just hired last week
Emily closed the app. Her vision was blurry.
The office door opened.
Maya from HR. 27. Perfect blowout. The kind of woman who wore red lipstick on a Tuesday.
She walked straight to Emily’s desk and leaned on it.
“So,” Maya said. Loud enough for everyone to hear. “How was dinner?”
The whole floor went quiet. Typing stopped.
Emily looked up. “It was... a work meeting.”
Maya laughed. “Right. A work meeting. At 8 PM. In a private room. With that dress.”
She said "that dress" like it was a crime.
“I was doing my job,” Emily whispered.
“Your job.” Maya’s eyes swept over her. From the blazer to the flats. “Interesting. Because I’ve been Damian’s EA for 3 years and I’ve never been invited to dinner.”
Before Emily could answer, Damian’s office door opened.
Silence.
He walked out. Black suit today. No tie. Phone in one hand, coffee in the other.
He didn’t look at anyone. Until he got to Emily’s desk.
Then he stopped.
His eyes went to the coffee on her desk. Then to her face. Pale. Tired.
Then to Maya, who was still leaning on Emily’s desk.
“Problem?” His voice was ice.
Maya straightened instantly. “No problem, Mr. Sterling. Just welcoming the new hire.”
“Is that what we’re calling it?” He set his own coffee down. Right next to hers. “Back to work, Maya.”
Maya’s face went red. She walked away fast.
Damian looked down at Emily.
“You okay?” he asked. Quiet. Only for her.
Emily nodded. She couldn’t speak.
“Good.” He turned and went into his office. The glass door shut behind him.
But it wasn’t over.
By 10 AM, the story had spread to all 50 floors.
By 12 PM, lunch break, Emily couldn’t walk to the kitchen without people staring.
Whispers. Pointing.
That’s her.
He bought her that dress.
I heard she’s sleeping her way to the top
In the bathroom, two interns were talking in the stalls.
“She’s nothing. He’ll get bored in a week.”
“I’d kill to be in her place though. Did you see his face in that photo?”
Emily locked herself in the last stall and cried. Silently.
She hated that she cried.
She hated that part of her liked the photos. The way he looked at her.
Her phone buzzed again.
Don’t read it . Come to my office.Now. -D
She wiped her face. Took a deep breath. Walked out.
The walk to his office felt like a mile.
20 people watched her.
She knocked.
“Come in.”
Damian was standing by the window. Back to her. The whole city behind him.
When he turned, his expression was unreadable.
“Close the door.”
She did. The click was loud.
“They’re talking,” Emily said. Her voice broke. “Everyone. They think—”
“I know what they think.” He cut her off. He walked to his desk and picked up a tablet. Turned it to her.
It was an email. From Legal.
Mr. Sterling, regarding the photos circulating
The photos circulating online. We recommend a statement.
Damian deleted it.
“They can think whatever they want.” He looked at her. “The question is, what do you think, Emily?”
Emily hugged herself. “I think I made a mistake coming last night.”
“Do you?” He stepped closer. “Because I don’t.”
“I’m nobody, Mr. Sterling. I’m just—”
“You’re not nobody.” His voice was sharp. Then softer. “And you’re not ‘just’ anything.”
He reached out and brushed his thumb under her eye. Where her mascara had smudged.
“You cried.”
It wasn’t a question.
Emily nodded, ashamed.
“Don’t.” He dropped his hand. “Not because of them.”
The office was so quiet she could hear the AC.
Then his desk phone rang. He ignored it.
“Listen to me.” He leaned against his desk, arms crossed. “I brought you to that dinner because I wanted to. I sent you that coffee because I wanted to. And I will keep doing things because I want to.”
He paused.
“The problem isn’t you, Emily. The problem is that they’ve never seen me care about anyone before.”
The words hit her like a punch.
Care.
“Now,” he said, picking up his phone. “We have two options. We address this. Or we ignore it and let them burn themselves out.”
He looked at her. “What do you want?”
Emily stared at him. At the man who owned a building and was asking her what she wanted.
She thought of the bus. The cracked mirror. The 90k.
“I want to do my job,” she said finally. “Without... this.”
Damian nodded once. “Then we ignore it.”
He typed something on his phone.
30 seconds later, her phone buzzed.
‘You’ are not alone in this
Meet me on the roof at 7.
No cameras.
-D’
Emily looked up.
Damian was already back at his computer, like he hadn’t just set the whole office on fire.
But the gossip wasn’t done.
It was just getting started.
- Writer
