“Me?” My breathing was hampered, my eyelashes fluttered profusely, and my heartbeat was uncontrollable as I was in shock by this man’s confession. “You mean you want to have sex?” I asked, unsure by what he meant by wanting me.

It would make sense if he just wanted to have something physical with me and seeing how there’s a sofa bed in his office, there is a high chance that he had been doing this with a lot of women.

I felt a pang in my heart at the possible that I may be one of the many women with whom he had fun with.

‘Why do I keep feeling like this?’

He growls lowly and dipped his head into my neck, inhaling and exhaling deeply, smelling me. “You smell so divine.” He groans and assaulted my neck, living a trail of butterfly kisses from my neck to my shoulder, sucking at the same time.

I whimpered. “Mr. Moore…”

He ceased his activity and stared back into my eyes. “I would lie if I said that I don’t want to make sweet love to you, right here and right now.” He said huskily. “But I want more than that, I want a relationship.” He concluded, brushing the tip of his nose against mine.

“But why?” I whispered.

He chuckled and kissed my neck again, earning another whimper from me. “You can’t tell me you don’t feel our connection, just look at how your body is reacting to me.” He answered with a lustful grin.

My whole body was flushed against his, and my breathing had been shallow for a while now. Every time he touches me, something deep in my abdomen is getting ignited, making my womb crave for something more.

He knows, he knows the effect that he has on me. I averted my eyes, ashamed of the state that I am in right now.

“Don’t get shy with me now.” He grabs my hand and puts it on top of something hard. I looked to see what it was and my eyes widens. He had laid my hand on top of his bulge that hid in his pants. “And this is what you do to me.” He whispered in my ear, his voice walking on the thin line of want and restraint. “From the moment that I had laid my eyes on you, I knew I wanted you, needed you. I want you to be my woman.”

He rested his forehead on to mine, cupping my cheeks, both of us letting out a shuddering breath. “God, I want to kiss you so fucking bad.” He groans out.

‘Me too.’ I thought. I never felt like this before. His voice puts calmness in me, his smell puts peacefulness in me and his touch puts the fire in me; an infinite fire that doesn’t want to be extinguished.

And the unbelievable thirst that I’m experiencing in my womb can only be quenched if we became one.

I never felt like this before.

And it scares me.

I don’t want to lose myself in this feeling, in this drug. If I don’t watch out, I may get addicted to it while losing my sanity in the process like that woman, my mom. She had lost herself when dad died, but she went totally off the road after meeting that monster.

I don’t want to be like her, end up like her. Feeling like you need a man to survive.

And let’s not forget my diligent stalker. He won’t let this man live for even one day after this, and I can’t have that. It would break me… surely.

I placed my hand on his chest and jogged him off me, shaking my head as I cast my eyes on the ground. I whispered, “We can’t do this Mr. Moore.” 

He took my hand in his and brought it to his lips, giving it a peck. “Call me Mark and yes, we can do this. You just have to give us a chance. Let’s go on one date. I’ll show you it will be worth it.” He looked at me with a pleading look that made me hesitate my decision.

‘Maybe I can tell him about Jack?’

But that thought was quickly thrown out of the window. There’s no way he can beat a professional killer. No matter what I plan or where I go, Jack knows. Telling Mr. Moore is like confirming his death sentence. I’ll not risk that.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Moore, but I am not ready to date yet. A lot of stuff has been happening in my life and I need time to sort them out.” I tried to sound resolute, but I couldn’t even look in his eyes, scared that looking in them would cause my resolve to crumble in to pieces in a matter of seconds.

He pushed my chin up with his index finger, trying to make me look at him, but I refused.

“We can work on them together. No matter what problems you have, we can get through them together, trust me.” His voice was full of warmth, covering me up like a blanket.

I gave him a wobbly smile. “That’s sweet, but it’s still a no for me, Mr. Moore.” It took everything in me for my voice to sound stable.

Mr. Moore raked frustrated with his fingers through his hair, letting out a sigh. He picked up my crutches from the ground, giving them back to me. “I understand.” He whispered sad, his shoulders slumped with his hands in his pockets.

‘I guess that’s it.’ I thought relieved but sad at the same time that he gave up.

“But I will not give up.”

I blinked profusely, shocked. “What…?”

“If anything, now that I have confessed to you I can openly court you.” He grins, revealing his pearly white teeth. “I don’t know what’s eating you up inside, but I’ll destroy that.” He stroked my cheek.

I felt flustered by his declaration. ‘How can he be so stubborn?’

“Excuse me.” He said and before I could react, he carried me off the floor and brought me back to the sofa couch. I was too stunned to even blush or scream.

“Now rest.” He commanded.

“But I have to go to work.” I replied.

“Your job is relieving me of work stress by resting on this couch and gracing me with your presences.” He said, giving me a chaste kiss on my forehead as he left to go back to his desk; continue working on the documents.

“Ah… yes sir.” I placed my hand on my forehead, trying to extinguish the heat that he had left on me; blushing profusely.

‘Please give me the strength to keep refusing this man, God.’ I prayed as I glued my eyes on the only man that’s able to set my core on fire.

…

“So what’s really the deal, April?” Cher asked between bites, her mouth stuffed with food that Mr. Moore’s assistant brought for me as lunch under Mr. Moore’s command.

It was lunch break and since I can’t move that well, we both decided that it would be better to hold our lunch in Mr. Moore’s office, especially since he’s gone for a lunch meeting.

I almost choked on a piece of bread after hearing the question. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” With a wobbly smile, I tried to seem oblivious, averting my eyes from hers.

She leaned back on the couch and stretched out her legs. “No need to hide it, the gossip has already spread throughout the entire company like a wildfire.” She said, taking a sip from her milkshake. “The famous handsome Co-CEO seems to have taken a liking to a mysterious red-headed woman who works at the sales department~,” she serenaded it out like she was doing a Shakespeare play.

I hide my face in the palm of my hands, letting out an embarrassed groan. “That bad?” I asked, peeking at her through my fingers.

She grins ear to ear like a Cheshire cat having fun with my troubles. “It’s comical.” She giggles. “Everybody is curious to know who this woman might be. They have already labeled you like a supermodel or some famous actress and the women in our department. They, well, they have been out for blood.”

Every time Cher said something, I could feel myself shrinking and shrinking away, fearing the world outside this office. “I’m dead, aren’t I?” I asked, giving a tearful tremulous smile, knowing that my end was near.

“You’ll be fine.” She said, waving off my worries. “More important.” She said in an excited tone as she leaned in close to my face, her eyes twinkling with curiosity. “Are you guys really a thing?”

I flushed red. “No, of course not!” My cracking voice came out shriller than I intended and it only fueled her need to know more.

“But something happened, didn’t it?” She kept on leaning closely as she talked excitedly. I pushed her head away from me and shifted a few inches away from her.

“He only confessed his love to me, but nothing else happened.” I mumbled.

“I knew it!” Cher exclaimed happily, jumping up looking like she was over the moon. “I’ve read this type of story so many times on Wattpad, a rich man falling in love with a peasant or poor girl. They will go through so many hardships but in the end love concurs all.” And there she went, back in to her fantasy world, talking so animatedly as she was clasping her hands together with her dreamy eyes pointed towards the sky. It thrilled me to see that my friend had got her peppy energy back, but she’s draining my energy in exchange for it.

I let out a sigh. “Mind you, I am not poor or a peasant. Also, like I said before, nothing else happened a.k.a. I turned him down.”

With a crestfallen expression she glanced down at me, mouth agape as her arms falls to her sides. “Why in the world did you do that?”

“I am already in a relationship, remember?” I told her, helping her remember about the guy with whom I have been talking with for the past couple months; which was a lie, of course, to divert her from the other lies that I had made, so why not use it again.

“You mean the guy that you have been talking with?” She asked and sat down next to me again.

I nodded. That guy, however, was Jack.

‘Hmm’ Talking about Jack, he hasn’t been bombarding me with text messages, ever since I went in to Mr. Moore’s office, which is really strange, because there’s no way that he didn’t hear what was going on inside. I took out my phone and glanced at it. There were no notifications from him.

‘What’s going on?’ I thought. I prefer him threatening me like he always had done; at least I could calm him down somehow. Him being quiet like this gives me a really a morbid feeling. Something is amiss.

‘Should I text him?’ The need to know if he was there and if he wasn’t mad at all was high. It really put me on edge.

“Hey…” Cher puts her hand on top of mine, making me flinch a little. She gave me a worried look. “Is it him?” She nodded at my phone.

“Ah… no.” I denied, but my thoughts were still going amok, worried about my stalker’s activity. If he wasn’t angry and if he was just doing something that may have caused him to not listen into Mr. Moore’s and I’s conversation then thank God, but what now if that wasn’t the case.

I felt a hand grabbing my hand, pulling my thumb away from my mouth.

‘Was I biting on my nail again?’

“April, it’s clear as day that this isn’t working with that dude…” Cher said, pointing at my nibbled thumb. “I don’t know, Mr. Moore, and I don’t see him often, but when I do, I can see that his eyes are always searching for you. Girl, that man looks at you like you’re the whole damn meal course and I don’t blame him.” She smirks.

My already rosy cheeks became crimson. “Whatever.” I mumbled shyly. “I still won’t change my mind.”

“But why~?” Cher whined, drawing out the ‘y’.

I exhaled, frustrated, leaning back my head. “It’s complicated.” That’s the only thing that I could say, because it was the truth.

Cher raised an eyebrow questionably. “What do you mean?”

I groaned, frowning my eyebrows. “Can we just drop this?”

Cher huffed at my outburst, crossing her arms as she leaned back in to the couch. “I guess we can.” She grumbled, puffing up her cheeks.

“Great.” I, too, grumbled as I took a bite of my sandwich. The sauce had reached my tongue, but my brain did not register the taste of it as I could feel a slight of heavy ambience between the two of us. It was awkward.

Cher let out something like a sigh and looked at me, displaying a sad smile on her face. “I just want you to be happy.” I clearly heard the sincerity in her voice, causing a smile to form on my face.

“I know.” I smiled. I truly understood her, but it was still not the right time for it.

I could hear a knocking on the door. Both our heads turned towards it and saw the door being opened by the assistant and behind him was Mr. Moore.

“Sorry to disturb you ladies’ lunch, but the break is over.” He said with an apologetic smile.

Cherry waved her hands in front of her continuously as she shook her head alongside it. “N-No, Mr. Moore, I am sorry to intrude in your office. Thank you so much for letting us use it.” Cher said politely. She took her bag and nudged my arm, gaining my attention. She leaned forward until she was on the same height as my ears, whispering “He’s a real keeper, April.” And sashayed giggling away, leaving her friend, whose head was now a red glowing stick behind. Also, that Mr. Moore was giving me a knowing smirk as his assistant cleaned up the mess that Cher and I made only intensified the redness on my face.

…

It was finally after working hours and the bustling streets of New York was only intensified as the people who just finished their work were hastening themselves to get home, ignoring all traffic rules making it difficult for me and Cher to get to her house.

Cher, who was already in a bad mood threw out profanities words, honking at the people in other cars to get moving and I, who was getting scared for her life by her angry friend’s driving style, held on to the safety belt tightly, chattering her teeth not saying anything; scared that it may fuel her anger more.

As we almost arrived at her house, something in the corner of my eyes caught my attention. It was a retail outlets store. A yellow light bulb appeared above my head, an idea forming, but I had to do it now and quickly. I tapped at the raging Cher and earned an angry ‘what!?’ as she turned her head at me to see what I wanted. I pulled out my phone and typed something, conscious of the bugged car, but kept talking to not make Jack suspicious.

“I want to check out that cute store there. It looks like they have a new collection!” I said, trying to talk animatedly as possible. Next to the retail shop was a shop filled with dolls and plushes. I could feel myself cringing at the thought of entering that shop.

Before the pissed off Cher could retort angrily at me, I showed her my phone screen where I wrote something on it. She clasped her lips tight and read the message.

“Please say nothing and just go along with me. I am really begging you. Also, leave your phone behind. I can’t explain to you why, but I really have to go to that retail shop there.”

The frown on her face deepened as she finished reading it. She glared at me and you could see in her expression that she really wanted to know what was going on, but she held on her tongue. “Fine.” She gritted. “But you seriously ow me one.” She added.

“You’re the best!” I hugged her, and we both got out of the car after she parked in front of the retail shop.

I exhaled before entering the shop.

‘I hope Jack won’t find out.’