"I understand how upsetting this must've been," he said to her, his voice dipped in a gentler register now, something practiced. "Let's debrief in my office before we escalate. I'll take it from here."
"But-"
"No need to push harder than necessary, Katherine." His tone was all polished steel. "We don't want to make decisions in public."
His words were clean. Professional. Even warm.
But the subtext was as clear as a slap: You're making a scene. Back off.
Katherine blinked. Hesitated. Then nodded slowly, adjusting the collar of her blazer with stiff fingers.
Aaron gave her the faintest smile. One he didn't give to anyone else here.
And then they walked off, together.
Leaving me standing there, eyes burning, chest tight, surrounded by colleagues who had already begun muttering again.
I heard it as I sat back down, someone said "favoritism," another muttered "junior mistake," and someone else hissed "guess sleeping with the boss does get you a warning instead of a pink slip."
I clenched my fists.
I turned deaf to their words.
And got to work.
I stared at the screen, but the numbers wouldn't stop twitching. They danced, blinked, curled and blurred like they were mocking me. I blinked. Once. Twice.
I still couldn't breathe right.
The room had gone quiet again. Not because people weren't talking, but because I couldn't hear them anymore, not clearly. Just hums. Buzzes. Indistinct vowels behind tightly pressed lips.
My fingers hovered over the keyboard, then curled into fists.
Finish the backlog. From scratch.
I deserved this. Right?
Of course I did.
I had been too distracted lately with Kieran and his goons.
I must have done something wrong. Even if I triple-checked it. Even if I went line by line on Friday night, until my eyes stung and my wrist hurt from dragging formulas across cells, somehow, I still messed up. I had to.
Because Katherine was probably never wrong.
Because Aaron didn't even ask if I had a backup file or wanted to explain, he just handed me a punishment. Calmly. Professionally.
Fairly.
Fair, I told myself.
He's always fair.
And Katherine… she's just intense because she has standards. She's been here longer. She knows the weight of every decimal. If I were better, more careful, more competent, this wouldn't have happened. If I wasn't me,
My eyes darted toward the hallway.
Gone. They were gone. To his office. Together.
He touched her elbow. Not mine. Never mine.
She looked good today too, hair sleek and makeup light. I bet she knew how to stand beside someone like him. Quiet, efficient, stunning in a way that matched. Not like me.
I was just…
The intern who never left.
Still junior. Still apologizing. Still so easily replaced.
I blinked too fast. My fingers shook when I reached for the mouse. I kept missing the cursor. Kept clicking nothing.
Someone walked past.
I heard a cough, followed by a whisper.
"Probably just climbed her way up for the perks. Typical."
Laughter, soft. Muffled. But real.
My throat tightened.
But I smiled.
Not at them. Just… at my screen. Or maybe at myself. My pathetic, useless self that still thought if I just stayed quiet and worked harder, everything would be okay.
It never was.
My leg bounced beneath the desk. I told it to stop. It didn't listen.
My hands were too cold now. My coffee sat untouched. My stomach clenched so tight it felt like punishment.
Eight more spreadsheets.
Seven.
Six.
Just finish it. Pretend like nothing happened.
Pretend like Katherine didn't throw papers in your face. Pretend like Aaron didn't sentence you in front of everyone. Pretend like you weren't about to crack in half.
No one wanted to hear me cry.
So I wouldn't.
… 10:30
I knocked once, soft. The kind of knock that begged not to be answered.
But the door opened anyway.
Aaron didn't look up from his tablet, still seated at his desk like nothing had just happened downstairs. Like I hadn't been publicly humiliated. Like Katherine hadn't nearly peeled my skin off in front of the entire staff.
"Come in," he said without looking at me.
His tone wasn't harsh. But it wasn't gentle either. It was Aaron, cool, controlled, unreadable. A voice that didn't ask, didn't plead, just… commanded.
I stepped in and shut the door behind me, the soft click sounding way too loud. My shoes felt heavy on the floor. I stood just a few feet from his desk and stared down at my shoes.
He didn't say anything.
Neither did I.
Until,
"Sit."
I obeyed.
He finally looked up then, those gray eyes unreadable as always. He studied me in silence like he was trying to pick me apart with just his gaze. But he didn't say anything for a long time.
So I forced something out first. "I… wanted to apologize. For the mistake."
Aaron didn't blink. "You already did."
Right. I had. Publicly. Pathetically.
Still, I nodded, swallowing the knot in my throat. "It won't happen again."
"See that it doesn't."
Another nod. I stared at my knees.
The silence after that was deafening. But I deserved it, right? I couldn't be mad. I couldn't, even if something sharp was twisting in my chest, even if I felt like I was shrinking by the second in front of someone I was supposed to feel safe with.
"You're spacing," he said quietly.
I blinked, looked up, and froze.
He was already standing. I hadn't even seen him move.
Aaron crossed the room slowly, one hand in his pocket, the other at his side. I didn't know what to do with my body. I kept my hands in my lap. I stared at the floor again.
When I looked up, he was right in front of me.
His hand reached out, fingertips grazing near my cheek.
I flinched.
Not on purpose. Just instinct.
He pulled his hand back halfway, brows barely pinching. "Are you mad at me?"
I shook my head.
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not," I whispered, eyes darting anywhere but his. "You were just doing your job. You… had to be stern."
Silence again.
His voice softened, just a touch. "You think I liked watching that happen?"
I didn't answer.
He exhaled through his nose. "Katherine didn't give me a choice. If I defended you outright, I would've made it worse."
I nodded again, forcing a smile that didn't reach anything in my body. "I understand."
But I didn't. Not really.
I didn't understand why his voice hadn't wavered once when he gave me that punishment. Why he hadn't looked at me for even a second during the chaos. Why he let her talk to me like that.
Aaron took another step.
And this time, he didn't ask.