Part 2Teetering on the Edge with the CEO

I nodded hesitantly.

It sounded insane, I know. But it was the truth.

He handed the phone back. "Comment again."

He then backed away into my tiny kitchen alcove and slid the glass door mostly shut.

Okay… I sent a simple smiley face emoji.

Nothing happened. Total silence.

He walked back into the living room, looking deadly serious despite the pink blanket situation. Like he was chairing a board meeting about interdimensional travel. "What's the variable here?"

A lightbulb went off in my head. I spoke tentatively, already cringing, "The… content of the comment?"

He nodded, gestured for me to try again, and retreated back to the kitchen.

I thought carefully, typed something out, and hit send. Poof. He was right back in front of me. Neither of us saw how it happened.

Ethan frowned. "What did you write this time?"

"Uh…" My voice got smaller and smaller. "'Pretty sure looking this good should be illegal… " I practically mumbled the last part into the carpet.

His mouth twitched. He looked like he wanted to say something, then stopped, sighed, and just said my name. "Anna."

"Yeah?"

"Try again. Comment on someone else's video," he paused, then added, "Same type of content."

Leave it to the boss to think methodically. Control the variables. He was treating this like a science experiment.

So, he sat down next to me on my couch, watching intently as I scrolled to find another thirst trap creator and typed: Pretty sure we're soulmates based on... well, everything

Before hitting send, I had a brief panic attack. What if I summoned another one? How would I explain that? Demonstrate the magic words again and summon a third? End up with a living room full of half-naked influencers?

Honestly, sounds like a dream come true.

Turns out, I worried for nothing. Sent the comment. Nothing happened.

After a few more rounds of testing, Ethan and I reached a conclusion.

If I post a thirsty, flirty, or generally inappropriate comment on Ethan Sterling's secret thirst trap videos, he teleports directly to my location.

We just sat there for a minute, silently processing this absolutely ridiculous information.

Eventually, I called him an Uber and lent him one of my brother's old sweatshirts (thank god he left some stuff here).

Before leaving, Ethan fixed me with a glare. A serious, 'I-run-a-company' glare. "Anna Miller. If a third person ever finds out about this, you're finished."

Message received. I like my job, thanks. Besides, who would even believe this story?

The internet, man. What a weird, magical place. Nobody knows how degenerate I am online, just like nobody knows the cool, aloof CEO is secretly a TikTok thirst trap star.