The Proud CEO

Distance & Desire

Eliana didn't go to the office the next day.

She said it was for "remote work," but really, she needed space—to think, to breathe, to remember who she was before Adrian Cole ever touched her lips or her ambition.

She wasn't in love.

She couldn't be.

She was smarter than that.

Still, her phone lit up with his name by noon.

Adrian: You disappeared.

She stared at the screen, then typed.

Needed space.

His reply came quickly.

I get it. But space won't change what we feel.

She didn't respond.

Because she didn't know what to say.

By evening, she was walking through Central Park, heels traded for sneakers, the city finally quiet enough to hear her thoughts. Her best friend, Nia, joined her on a bench near the lake.

"So, let me get this straight," Nia said, biting into a pretzel. "You're sleeping with your boss, everyone in the office suspects it, and you're still winning every meeting?"

"That's not the point."

"It kinda is." Nia smiled. "You're still doing your job. And you're not a fool, Eliana. You wouldn't fall unless it meant something."

Eliana leaned back, watching the twilight paint the water in strokes of silver and rose. "I just... didn't expect him. Didn't expect this to matter."

"Maybe it's not about expectations," Nia said. "Maybe it's about what you're afraid to want."

That night, Adrian stood alone in his penthouse, staring at his phone.

No messages.

He didn't chase easily. But with Eliana, everything was different

She challenged him. Lit his world on fire. Made him want more than power, more than success.

He typed.

I miss you.

Then deleted it.

And poured another drink.

Eliana, in her apartment across town, stared at the stars through her window.

She didn't cry.

She didn't call.

She just whispered one truth out loud:

"I want him."

And it terrified her more than anything ever had.