Keeping the CEO's Secret

Chapter Five

Staring at Freya, I couldn't quite figure out what she meant. 'Like' was such a vague term. Did he like me the same way he 'likes' all of his employees? Did he like me in a way that was totally inappropriate for his fiancé to know? Either way, it made my stomach drop.

"Two teas for Millie."

Finally breaking eye contact, I blinked away my shock and went to grab my tea. Whatever it was, Freya didn't seem upset by it, so it must have been the platonic kind of 'like'. Still, the guilt was gnawing away at my insides and screaming to be let out.

We set about walking back to the office. The entire walk, I was racking my own brain for a way to organise the words I wanted to say. Freya was overwhelmingly nice, and I wanted nothing more than to tell her the truth; I just wanted to break it to her in a way that saved her heart.

Walking past reception, I hesitated at the lift.

"Going up?" I guessed.

"You're down? I never realised there was a basement in this place." Freya seemed shocked.

"Just Ollie and I down there." I nodded, "We like to pretend that we're the support pillars for the entire company and that's why we're at the bottom. Why else would we be condemned to the basement?"

Freya did her classic head tilt, laugh and clap again. I was beginning to learn that she did that a lot.

"Look, Millie, I'll have a word with Alasdair and smooth things over a bit. He loves me so I wouldn't worry about losing your job or anything."

"That would be amazing, thank you Freya." I was stupefied by the gesture.

"Don't sweat it."

Freya left me with one last beaming smile before the lift doors closed and she disappeared. It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Fighting off the urge to do a happy dance right there in the lobby, I dashed towards the stairs and bounced down them. Ollie's tea may have spilled partially but it was a small price to pay for my happiness.

My mood was killed by the sight of Callum Moore sitting at my desk. Ollie shot me a disturbed look over his shoulder to show he was not pleased by Callum's presence.

"What do you want?"

I hadn't meant to sound quite so fed up with his presence.

"Millie, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what Craig said. I'm going to have a word with my father, so don't worry about that end of things."

The smile that slipped onto my face seemed to throw him off.

"Freya guessed that it was Craig."

My words made him pause in his tracks, looking at me with a strange expression. A smug tug at my lips began to appear but I composed myself. He looked worried, as if he was scared I had revealed his secrets. I wished I had.

"You saw Freya?" Callum frowned. "Is she here?"

"Heading upstairs to your office now. I wonder what she'd think if she knew you were down here bothering Ollie and I."

"Don't involve me in this," Ollie piped up, still not taking his eyes off of his screen.

I glanced over at Ollie, who seemed to be engrossed in his work but had definitely been cycling through the same three tabs while pretending to be busy. Callum was certainly putting on a little show for him. Callum's eyes also moved over to Ollie before settling back on me.

They dragged up and down my face, making my mouth go dry. His eyes were always intense but right now they seemed to be on fire. He raised an eyebrow and leaned in closer to me, dropping the volume of his voice so Ollie couldn't hear him.