Rejected: A love story-Chapter 59: Love in the air

After exams, Miss Lily collected the papers one by one, moving down the rows like she was counting us off in her head. When she reached Ella, she paused longer than necessary, glanced at the clock, then took the sheet without a word. That was when Ella finally looked at me.

"Hi," she whispered, like she hadn’t ignored me for half the morning.

I turned to her immediately. "Where were you?"

She sighed, already packing her bag. "Bad morning. I’ll tell you later. I’m starving." That was enough for now.

We walked straight to the cafeteria once we were dismissed. The place was crowded, loud, and full of people who clearly had nothing better to do than watch everyone else. Ella grabbed a tray and piled food onto it like she hadn’t eaten in days, I only got some fries and ketchup wiWe sat at a corner table.

She didn’t even wait to sit properly before shoving a forkful of food into her mouth.

"Okay," she said around it, eyes on me. "Now talk."

I laughed under my breath. "You’re not wasting time, are you?"

She shook her head, chewing. "I was late, I’m hungry, and you look like someone who did not sleep for innocent reasons. So. Talk."

I hesitated a little as my fingers twisted togetherI leaned over, lowering my voice "Ella..."

She stayed composed, still chewing her food. "Fiona.?"

I leaned closer, voice dropping. "Nathan and I... we did it again last night."

She stopped eating. "Did what?" she whispered.

I swallowed. "We had sex."

Her fork clattered against her plate.

"Again?"

I covered my face. "Ella!"

She slapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes huge. "Again?!"

I nodded, heat rushing to my cheeks.

She immediately scooted her chair closer, forgetting her food for a moment. "Okay no, you can’t just drop that and stop. Talk."

I leaned in further, almost over the table. "I was shy at first. Like... really shy."

"As expected," she muttered.

"But then," I continued, lowering my voice even more, "he didn’t rush me. He just—" I paused, searching for words.

Ella waved her fork impatiently. "Spit it out."

I swallowed. "He went under."

Her eyes followed my face as I tilted my head slightly and, without thinking, used my tongue to point.

Ella’s eyes damn near popped out of her head.

"GIRL—" she shouted.

Then instantly clapped her hands over her mouth, looking around. "Sorry—sorry—"

She leaned back in, whispering harshly. "He did all that?"

I nodded, biting my lip.

She shook her head slowly. "Nah. Nah. You’re lucky."

"I didn’t even expect it," I admitted. "And he was just... calm about it. Like he knew exactly what he was doing."

Ella stabbed a fry, but still not eating. "Was it good?"

I let out a breathy laugh. "He’s a pro."

She groaned softly. "Of course he is."

"And," I added, quieter now, "he didn’t make me feel awkward. At all."

"That’s important," she said seriously.

"I didn’t feel rushed," I said. "Or pressured. I just... wanted him."

Ella’s brows lifted. "You?"

"Don’t start."

"I’m proud of you," she said quickly. "But continue."

"I was on top," I added, barely audible.

Ella choked on her drink.

"Sorry—what?"

"I said it," I whispered, mortified and laughing at the same time. "I don’t know where the confidence came from."

Ella dropped her fork again.

"FIONA."

"I know!"

She wiped her mouth, her eyes shining. "Okay. That’s hot."

"Ella!"

"I’m just saying," she grinned. "Did he like it?"

I rolled my eyes. "He didn’t complain."

She leaned back, satisfied. "Of course he didn’t."

I covered my face briefly. "I can’t believe I’m telling you this."

"You better believe it," she said, pointing her fork at me. "You came to the right person."

She leaned back, hand on her chest. "Okay. Okay. I need a second."

I laughed quietly, half embarrassed, and half relieved. "I don’t know where that confidence came from."

"From him," she said immediately. "Men like that do that to you."

Her mouth dropped open again slightly. "You?"

"Don’t look at me like that."

"I’m proud of you," she said immediately. "But also shocked."

I nodded. "Afterward, he didn’t act weird."

"That’s good."

"He held me," I said. "We slept on each other arms."

Ella softened. "Yeah... that’s different."

"I was scared he’d pull away this morning," I admitted. "But he didn’t."

"Then you’re fine," she said firmly. "Stop overthinking."

She finally took a bite of her food again, shaking her head. "Meanwhile, I’m here fighting for my life with exams and you’re living a romance novel."

I smiled, feeling lighter. "You disappeared yesterday too."

Her chewing slowed. "Caleb."

I raised an eyebrow. "Ah."

She rolled her eyes. "Don’t."

"You smiled when you said his name."

"I did not."

"You did."

She sighed. "It’s complicated."

I nudged her foot under the table. "Welcome to the club."

For a moment, we just sat there — whispering, laughing, and enjoying our food like we always did.

[Switch Pov _Narrator]

The meeting room was quiet in the way expensive places usually were. Laptops were open and their coffee were untouched because nobody actually drank it during meetings like this — they just pretended to.

Nathan Keith sat at the head of the table. He should’ve been listening, he usually did. He was known for his sharp focus—cutting interruptions, finishing people’s sentences for them when they rambled too long. Today though, his mind wasn’t in the room. It was elsewhere.

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. It wasn’t a full smile, just that small, private curve that meant he was thinking about something nobody else in the room knew about.

Across the table, a man was speaking. Something about members, projections and feadlines. Words stacked on top of each other, floating past Nathan like background noise.

"...so if we proceed with phase two—"

Nathan nodded once, but his mind was absent, his fingers rested loosely on the table, relaxed.

A woman who sat two seats away from him glanced at him, then at the person beside her. Her brow creased slightly. Nathan Keith didn’t look like this during meetings.

The man finished his explanation and cleared his throat.

"So, Mr. Keith, what’s your take on that?"

There was silence, Nathan kept staring ahead, his eyes unfocused, with a smile still faintly there like he was replaying something in his head.

Everyone’s gaze were on him, a few people shifted in their chairs. Someone coughed.

"Mr. Keith?" the man called again.

But there was no reply, the smile stayed. Now people were definitely looking.

One of the women at the far end tilted her head, curiosity flickering across her face. Another leaned subtly toward her friend, lips barely moving.

"Is he... smiling?"

Someone whispered, "That’s weird."

"Sir?" another voice called, a little louder now.

Nathan was still elsewhere — Fiona’s smile, the way she’d looked half asleep that morning, yet still beautiful. The way she wasn’t even nervous to claim him, kissing him...

When they still got no response, someone tapped his arm.

Nathan blinked and the smile vanished instantly.

Just like that, his face hardened, eyes snapping back into focus, sharp and cold like a switch had been flipped. He looked around slowly, irritation already settling in his gaze.

"What?" he asked flatly.

Everyone in the room exhaled all at once.

"Are you okay, sir?" someone asked carefully.

Nathan stared at them for long, his expression unreadable

"I’m fine," he said. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

His voice was calm, but it carried that edge — the one that made people sit up straighter without realizing they’d slouched.

The man swallowed and tried again. "I was asking what your thoughts were on proceeding with phase two under the revised budget."

Nathan leaned back in his chair, fingers steepling now. Fully present.

"Repeat the last three figures," he said.

The man stiffened but obeyed, rattling them off.

Nathan nodded once. "Cut the third estimate by twelve percent. It’s padded."

The man blinked. "But—"

"I said it’s padded," Nathan interrupted smoothly. "If your team actually did the work instead of assuming I wouldn’t notice, you’d know that."

There was silence again. No one dared argued.

"Proceed," Nathan finished. "Next."

Across the table, two women exchanged looks.

’He wasn’t listening... but he still caught that?’

One raised her brows slightly.

’Typical boss’

Another woman watched him openly now. The way his jaw flexed. The authority in his posture. The fact that whatever softness had crossed his face earlier was completely gone.

She leaned toward her friend, whispering, "Did you see him smiling earlier?"

Her friend nodded. "Yeah. That was... new."

"Think he’s seeing someone?"

The friend smirked. "If he is, lucky her."

Nathan didn’t notice them....maybe he did and didn’t care.

The meeting continued, but the atmosphere had shifted. People were more cautious now. More alert. Like they’d almost walked in on something private and were pretending they hadn’t.

Nathan’s attention stayed on the table, but his thoughts drifted again — not enough to lose control, just enough to soften the edge.

He knew he would miss her but just hadn’t expected it to happen this much.

As the meeting wrapped up, chairs scraped back and files were gathered. Nathan stood first, they instinctively paused.

"Send me the revised figures by end of day," he said. "If I see the same mistakes again, we’ll revisit who’s actually qualified to be in this room."

They nodded quickly. "Yes, sir."

As he walked out, the whispers followed.

"That smile earlier..."

"I swear I’ve never seen him like that."

"Whoever she is, she’s got him bad."

Nathan didn’t hear them. He pulled his phone from his pocket as soon as the doors closed behind him.

There was one new message, from Fiona. A simple text.

’Miss you already’

Nathan’s thumb hovered for half a second. Then he smiled again, just a little.