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The moment the elevator doors closed, silence hit, not peaceful, not calm, heavy, overwhelming. Cassy stood still, her hands slightly tense at her sides, her mind trying to catch up with everything that just happened.
"You shouldn't have said that." Her voice was soft but steady.
Caleb stood beside her unmoving. "I meant it," he replied. That answer came too easily, too quickly.
Cassy turned to face him. "…That's not the point."
The elevator dinged, doors opened, they stepped out, walked down the hallway, everything looked the same but nothing felt the same.
"Then what is?" Caleb asked.
Cassy stopped an turned to him fully now. "The point is," she said quietly, "That you just made this bigger." A pause. Then, "Public."
Silence.
Caleb didn't deny it. "Yes."
Cassy exhaled slowly. "…Do you understand what that means?"
"Yes." Again, too certain.
Cassy shook her head slightly. "No," she said. "You understand the decision." A pause. "But not the impact."
That landed because she was right.
Caleb stepped closer. "…Then tell me."
Cassy looked at him carefully, measured. "It means I'm no longer just your secretary," she said. A pause. Then, "I'm the reason behind a public issue." Silence. "It means people will talk," she continued. "They'll assume, they'll judge."
Her voice stayed calm but her eyes carried something heavier. "And it means," she added quietly, "That whatever this is—" A pause. "—is no longer just ours."
That was it, that was the truth and it hit harder than anything else.
Caleb didn't respond immediately because for once this wasn't just about what he wanted. It was about what it cost her.
Cassy stepped back slightly. "I told you I would stay," she said softly. A pause. "But I didn't agree to this."
Silence.
Caleb's voice lowered. "…You think I don't see that?"
Cassy held his gaze. "…Do you?"
That question wasn't simple because now, seeing wasn't enough, understanding wasn't enough. It was about what he would do next.
Caleb exhaled slowly. "I can fix the media," he said.
Cassy shook her head immediately. "No." That surprised him. "This isn't something you 'fix,'" she said. A pause. "It's something we deal with."
That word, we. It stayed because despite everything she didn't walk away, not yet.
Caleb noticed, of course he did. "And what do you want to do?" he asked.
Cassy hesitated. Then, "We don't hide," she said. That answer wasn't expected.
Caleb's gaze sharpened slightly. "…Explain."
Cassy looked at him, steady, clear. "If we try to hide this," she said, "It will get worse." A pause. "But if we face it—properly—" Another pause. "Then we control how it's seen."
Silence.
That sounded like him but it came from her and that changed everything.
Caleb nodded slowly. "…Alright." No argument, no hesitation just agreement.
Cassy blinked slightly. "…That easy?"
A faint shift in his expression. "You said we deal with it," he replied. A pause. "So we do."
Silence.
And for the first time this didn't feel like something breaking, it felt like something shifting into something stronger but also something harder because now, they weren't just dealing with each other, they were dealing with the world.
And the world was already watching.