Secrets Don’t Stay Quiet
474 Words
Keeping a secret relationship is harder than it sounds.
Especially when the person you’re secretly with is one of the most recognizable men in the city.
We tried to be careful.
No lingering touches in public.
No obvious looks.
No slipping up during interviews.
But the problem with feelings is that they don’t know how to hide.
I noticed it first during a lunch meeting with investors. Ethan kept glancing at me like he was checking if I was okay. Not professionally. Personally.
One of the investors smiled and said, “You’re very attentive today, Mr. Blackwood.”
Ethan didn’t even realize what he was doing. “I always am.”
I almost choked on my drink.
Later, in the car, I teased him. “You’re going to get us caught.”
He frowned. “Caught doing what?”
“Being obvious.”
He smiled slightly. “I’m not used to hiding something I care about.”
That sentence stayed with me.
That night, we were sitting on the balcony again. Same city lights. Same quiet. Different energy.
“Do you think people suspect anything?” I asked.
“People always suspect things,” he replied. “The question is whether they can prove it.”
I rested my chin on my knees. “I hate lying.”
“You’re not lying,” he said. “You’re just… not telling the whole truth.”
“That’s literally lying.”
He laughed softly. “Okay, fair.”
Then his phone buzzed.
He checked the screen and his expression changed.
“What?” I asked.
“It’s my board,” he said. “They want to meet tomorrow. About us.”
My stomach dropped. “About us?”
“They think the relationship is affecting my public image. They want reassurance it’s still… controlled.”
Controlled.
I hated that word now.
“And what are you going to tell them?” I asked.
He looked at me. “That nothing has changed.”
I swallowed. “But everything has.”
He reached for my hand. “Not the part that matters to them.”
I squeezed his fingers. “And the part that matters to us?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
“That’s the part we protect,” he said finally. “Even if it means keeping it hidden.”
I nodded slowly, even though something about that felt wrong.
Because secrets don’t stay quiet forever.
They leak.
They slip.
They get discovered in the worst possible ways.
And deep down, I had a feeling:
This wasn’t going to stay private for long.
Not with the way he looked at me.
Not with the way I was starting to depend on him.
Not with the way the world seemed determined to watch us.
It wasn’t a matter of if people would find out.
It was when.
- Writer
