Shsshh Quiet on the creek

I left work as soon as I could that evening. I desperately needed a break. It had been less than a week, yet somehow my life already felt like a complete mess.

Between Erica, Vanguard Media, the secrets I couldn’t stop thinking about and everything that had happened between us, my head was exhausted and I didn’t want to think about any of it.

So I called Maya and asked her to meet me for dinner.

Now, sitting across from my best friend in a quiet corner booth, I finally felt like I could breathe. The lounge felt like another world, million meters away from the glass walls and suffocating pressure of Vanguard Media.

Tonight, I just wanted to forget everything.

Maya took a slow long sip of her cocktail, studying my face with that suspicion look that made me uneasy. She was the one who had dragged me out to that penthouse party two weeks ago. She is my best friend, the only person who knew how hard I had worked to pull my life together.

"Okay, spill” Maya said excitedly, setting her glass down on the sticky table. "You’ve been staring into your drink for twenty minutes, Tiana. And don't tell me it's just work. You look... different”

"Different how?" I asked quietly, running my finger around the rim of my glass”

"You look flushed — and Distracted” Maya grinned, leaning across the table. "Like someone’s been keeping you up late at night. Did you actually hit it off with someone from that penthouse party? Because you vanished at 4:00 AM like Cinderella and refused to talk about it all week”

My heart skipped a bit and my throat suddenly went dry.

I looked at Maya, my chest aching with the urge to confess. I desperately needed to tell someone. I wanted to tell her that I couldn't sleep, that my stomach was in tight knots and that every time I closed my eyes I could still feel Erica’s warm, possessive hands on my skin. I wanted to ask her if it was normal to feel this completely out of control.

"Maya..." I started, my voice barely above a whisper. "I need to tell you something. That night... I didn't go home alone. I went back to a penthouse with—"

"I knew it!" Maya gasped, clapping her hands together with a loud laugh. "I knew a guy caught your eye! Was he one of those rich finance guys in a suit? Please tell me he has a cute smile and a good job. You've been single for way too long Tiana. It's about time you found a nice guy to settle down with, like your mom keeps nagging you about!"

The words hung in the air, changing the mood between us instantly and killing every warmth between us after she said it

A guy. A nice guy.

The confession i had to give choked in my throat, the relief I was about to feel instantly turning into a heavy cold lump in my chest. Maya wasn't being cruel; she was just assuming.

Everyone always assumed. To her and to everyone else in my life, there was only one acceptable path for me: work hard, marry a good man and live a quiet boring normal life.

I swallowed hard and forced a weak smile

"Yeah” i lied, the word feeling wrong as soon as I said it "It was... just a guy from the party. But it was nothing serious. Just a one-time thing”

"Aww, really?" Maya sighed, taking another drink. "Well, don't give up. The right guy is out there. You just have to keep your eyes open”

"Yeah” i murmured, staring down at my melting ice cubes. "The right one”

My guard slammed back up and tighter than ever. I realized right then that I was completely alone in this. No one in my world would understand what was happening to me. No one would understand why a single touch from a powerful, beautiful woman made me forget every rule I had ever been taught.

My phone buzzed against the wood.

Erica: My driver is outside your building. Don't keep me waiting, sweet girl.

My heart raced as I read her words, a sudden heat spreading through my body. I quickly shoved the phone into my bag and looked at Maya

"I'm sorry, Maya” I said hurriedly, sliding out of the leather booth. "I have to run. Work stuff”

"Already? It's past 7:00 PM!" Maya complained, though she smiled and gave me a quick hug. "Fine, go be a workaholic. Call me later!"

"I will” I promised.

Marcus

The 40th floor was dead silent but my mind was screaming.

I sat in the dark of my office, swirling two fingers of cheap bourbon in a heavy tumbler. The pale blue light from my laptop screen bounced off the walls, casting long sharp shadows across the room.

I was losing control and I hated it.

Three hours ago, I had walked into HR with my head held high, ready to put an end to Erica Sterling’s reign. I had the server timestamps showing Tiana in that office past 8:00 PM. I had the crystal-clear photo of that silver bracelet sitting on Erica's mahogany desk. I had her cornered.

Or so I thought.

The HR director hadn't even looked alarmed. She had just stared at me with that pitying expression executives use when they think you’re losing your mind.

“Marcus, the security logs show Tiana logged off at 6:00 PM” she had said, sliding a printed sheet across the table. “And as for the bracelet, Ms. Sterling’s sister dropped that off during lunch. Are you feeling alright? The workload on the quarterly report can be grueling”

I slammed the glass down on my desk. The rim chipped and a tiny shard flying onto my leather desk pad but I barely felt it.

She wiped the servers.

Erica had walked into the security division, a department she was supposed to oversee after the merger, and erased the evidence right under my nose. Her cover-up was so clean and casual that it made me look like a paranoid lunatic imagining things.

She was protecting that girl.

It wasn't just workplace favoritism anymore. My gut had been telling me for weeks that something was off but now I was certain. The way Tiana stumbled out of that office with her cheeks flushed or The way Erica stood over her desk like a guard dog whenever I walked into the room. The subtle charged electricity between them that they thought they were hiding so well.

“Erica Sterling…the untouchable, ice-cold CEO, was sleeping with her assistant” i murmured in a low exaggerated whisper

A dry bitter laugh escaped my throat. She took my promotion, humiliated me in front of the board and now she was playing house on company time while using her position to cover her tracks.

I leaned forward, pulling my phone out and launching an encrypted messaging app.

If corporate rules weren't going to work, then corporate rules were dead. Erica controlled the building's official security network but she couldn't control what she couldn't see.

I opened a private thread and typed out a message to a contact I hadn't used in three years.

“I need micro-surveillance. Wireless, battery-powered, motion-activated. High definition”

The reply popped up almost immediately.

Ghost Tech: Office environment?

“Yes. Two units. Small enough to fit inside a smoke detector or an AC vent”

Ghost Tech: it’s Expensive. And if you get caught with these, it's a felony Vance.

I stared at the glowing screen, my jaw clenching until my teeth ached. A felony? Thats my career, my reputation, matter of fact, my entire life was already on the line. If Erica squeezed me out of Vanguard Media, I was finished anyway. I had nothing left to lose.

“I don't care about the price or the risk. Deliver them to my private address by tomorrow morning”

I replied sharply and flipped the phone face-down on the desk, leaning back and letting the darkness of the room swallow me whole.

Let Erica play her clever little games with the HR logs. Let her hide behind her power and her money. By this time next week, I’d have every touch, every kiss and every dirty little secret recorded in high definition.

"Enjoy your little fantasy, Erica” I whispered into the empty room, a cold smile slowly appearing on my face. "Because when I burn your world down, I'm going to make sure you watch every second of it”.