LONG TIME
1121 Words
ARIANA POV
Three weeks.
That was how long it took for my peaceful life to become suspiciously unstable.
Three weeks of normal work.
Three weeks of schedules, reports, lunch breaks, and Damian complaining about cafeteria food like it was a personal betrayal.
Three weeks of convincing myself that Novaris was just a company.
Nothing more.
Then Rachel called me into her office.
The moment I stepped inside, I knew something had changed.
She looked too pleased.
Managers only looked that pleased before giving someone more work.
“Ariana, sit.”
I sat.
Carefully.
Rachel folded her hands on the desk.
“You’ve been doing excellent work.”
“Thank you.”
“The reports are clean. Your scheduling is accurate. You’re fast, organized, and you don’t panic.”
“I try not to.”
“That’s rare here.”
“I noticed.”
Rachel smiled.
Then she opened a file.
“We need someone temporarily in the executive office.”
My stomach tightened.
“Executive office?”
“The CEO’s current assistant is moving to the international division. We need someone capable to handle the transition.”
I stared at her.
No.
No, no, no.
“I’m still new.”
“You learn quickly.”
“I’m not trained for executive work.”
“You’re more trained than half the people currently pretending to be.”
That was not comforting.
Rachel continued.
“It may become permanent if things go well.”
My fingers tightened in my lap.
“Who exactly would I be assisting?”
Rachel looked down at the file.
“The CEO.”
Of course.
Because apparently fate had a sense of humor.
A cruel one.
I forced my voice to stay calm.
“And the CEO is?”
Rachel looked up.
“Ethan Blake.”
The room stopped.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just enough for my heartbeat to become the only sound I could hear.
Ethan Blake.
There were many Ethan Blakes in the world.
That was what I told myself.
It did not have to be him.
It could be another Ethan Blake.
Another man.
Another CEO.
Another life.
But deep down, I already knew.
Of course it was him.
Some names followed you no matter how far you ran.
Rachel was still talking.
I heard nothing.
Only fragments.
Executive floor.
Cabin.
Schedule.
Direct reporting.
Start tomorrow.
I nodded at the right places.
Answered when needed.
Accepted because refusing would raise questions.
And I had built my entire life around avoiding questions.
When I left Rachel’s office, Elena was waiting near the corridor.
She took one look at my face.
“Oh no.”
“What?”
“You got promoted.”
“That is not an oh no thing.”
“It is when you look like someone just sentenced you.”
Damian appeared behind her with a packet of chips.
“Who got sentenced?”
“Ariana.”
“To what?”
Elena smiled.
“Executive office.”
Damian’s eyes widened.
“Oh.”
Then he gasped.
“Wait. CEO level?”
I gave him a look.
“Don’t.”
“You’re leaving us.”
“I am moving floors.”
“That’s what rich people say before they forget their roots.”
Elena nodded sadly.
“She’ll have her own cabin now.”
Damian placed a hand over his heart.
“Our little Ariana. Gone to executive society.”
“I hate both of you.”
“No, you don’t,” Elena said. “You’re emotionally attached.”
“I am not.”
“You absolutely are.”
I wanted to argue.
But I was too busy trying not to think about the name Ethan Blake.
The next morning, I arrived early.
Too early.
The executive floor was different from the operations floor.
Quieter.
Colder.
More expensive.
My new desk stood outside the CEO’s office, separated by glass walls and clean lines.
There was a small cabin attached to it.
Professional.
Elegant.
Terrifying.
I placed my bag down and opened the system.
The schedule loaded.
CEO: Ethan Blake.
There it was.
Not a coincidence.
Not a mistake.
A name from a life I had buried.
At 8:58, the elevator doors opened.
I did not look up immediately.
I should have.
Maybe it would have hurt less if I had prepared.
Footsteps approached.
Steady.
Confident.
Familiar in a way I hated.
Then the footsteps stopped.
Silence.
I looked up.
Ethan Blake stood in front of me.
Older.
Sharper.
Colder.
Not the boy from eight years ago.
Not exactly.
But the face was the same.
The eyes were the same.
The pain that moved through my chest was the same.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
His expression shifted first.
Recognition.
Shock.
Then something unreadable.
“Ariana?”
I stood slowly.
Professional.
Controlled.
Alive only because my pride refused to collapse in front of him.
“Good morning, Mr. Blake.”
His jaw tightened.
Mr. Blake.
He heard the wall.
Good.
Rachel appeared from behind him, completely unaware that she was standing in the middle of a past that should have stayed buried.
“Mr. Blake, this is Ariana Parker. She’ll be assisting you from today.”
His eyes did not leave mine.
“I know.”
Rachel blinked.
“You do?”
Ethan’s voice was quiet.
“We went to school together.”
“That’s wonderful,” Rachel said.
No.
It was not.
I smiled politely.
“Long time.”
Ethan looked at me.
Something passed through his eyes.
Regret?
Memory?
I did not care.
“Yes,” he said softly. “Long time.”
Rachel left after explaining the transition.
The moment she disappeared, silence filled the space between us.
Ethan looked like he wanted to say something.
I did not let him.
“Your nine-thirty call has been moved to ten. The investor report is in your inbox. Conference Room A is booked for the afternoon review.”
His expression changed slightly.
“You already checked the schedule?”
“That is my job.”
“Ariana—”
“Ms. Parker,” I corrected.
The words landed.
Hard.
For a second, the boy I remembered flickered behind the CEO.
Then he disappeared.
“Ms. Parker,” he said.
“Mr. Blake.”
We stood there.
Two people with eight years of silence between them.
Then he nodded once and walked into his office.
The glass door closed.
I sat back down.
My hands were steady.
My breathing was not.
For three weeks, I had wanted normal.
For three weeks, I had almost believed I could have it.
But life had a cruel sense of humor.
Because Ethan Blake was not only back in my life.
He was now my boss.
- Writer
