Page 33 of Tell Me What you Think

"Thanks. Did you sleep okay?"

The air stalls in Olga's lungs. For Marina it's a perfectly normal question, but for her it's something she isn't used to — none of the bosses she's had before ever asked — and the best part is she knows Marina isn't asking just to be polite. She actually seems to want to know.

"Yeah, it took me a while to fall asleep, but once I did I was completely out."

The vice president's lips curve, and Olga can't stop the flush creeping up her neck again. Wonderful.

"Me too — I always really miss my own pillow — but once I was asleep, I didn't wake up until my alarm went off."

Olga smiles, wondering how long she can hold it together when she feels herself getting closer to this woman with every passing day.

"We have a little time before we need to head to the airport. Maybe we could walk around the neighborhood a bit," Olga suggests without thinking, and her boss nods before taking a sip of her coffee.

"That works for me."

Her phone lights up and Marina unlocks the screen with one hand while holding her cup with the other. She swipes and sees it's another message from Alex. He'll be in Barcelona for business tomorrow and the day after, and Marina — who a few weeks ago wouldn't have hesitated — keeps turning it over in her mind, unable to figure out why she can't just say yes. She has a good time with him and he's good in bed, which is ultimately all she ever needs, and still she can't make up her mind.

She locks the screen without reading the message, and when she looks up at Olga, the question Olga fires at her nearly makes her choke on her coffee.

"Are you seeing him?" Marina's eyebrows go up, and Olga immediately realizes how out of line she's been. "God, I'm sorry," she says, turning red as she shoves her hands under the table. "I wasn't trying to look — I mean, I wasn't snooping — I just saw the name and I… I don't know, I was curious. I'm really sorry. Don't answer that."

Marina keeps looking at her. Her head is spinning. Olga was out of line, and maybe she should shut it down right now — tell her it's none of her business — and yet instead of being annoyed she's unsettled, because she felt a small knot in her stomach hearing it that she had no business feeling.

The vice president is growing more confused by the day when it comes to the woman sitting across from her. First she kisses her, then she begs her to forget it happened, and now she's asking whether she has someone. They're separate things that shouldn't have anything to do with each other, but Marina isn't sure they're unconnected, and she — who is very good at solving complicated problems — is stuck on one that should be fairly simple.

"Marina, seriously, I don't know what's gotten into me lately," Olga goes on, growing more uncomfortable in the silence. "I keep doing and saying stupid things, I didn't mean to—"

"I'm not seeing him," Marina says, cutting her off, fixing her blue eyes on Olga. "But we do meet up sometimes."

"Friends with benefits." The words are out of her mouth so fast she blinks.

"In my opinion, friends with benefits implies something almost like a relationship that's purely physical — regular hookups just for that — and that's not what this is. We only see each other when something else brings us together and… well, it doesn't really matter," she adds, catching herself over-explaining.

Olga isn't going to make it a big deal. She's always known Marina dates men. She's seen her with two of them at company dinners, and she'd be incredibly naïve to think no one was interested in her boss — besides herself, of course.

"What about you? Are you seeing anyone?" Marina asks, because she's been increasingly curious about Olga's life outside work.

"Me?" Olga lets out a slightly manic laugh. "No, not at all, I'm not seeing anyone."

"You say that like it's complicated."

"It's not." Olga waves her hand in front of her face, flustered. "I'm just not great at this whole flirting thing, you know…"

Marina raises an eyebrow.

"Actually, I don't. I have a hard time imagining you'd have trouble with that. I think you're a very attractive woman."

Olga stops breathing.

"Seriously?"

Marina's devastating grin spreads wider and she leans forward, resting her arms on the table with her fingers laced together.

"I think you have a pretty serious self-esteem problem if you can't see that."

"No, I mean, I — God, can we please talk about something else?" she begs, mortified.

"Of course. Grab your bag and your coat, come on, or we're going to be late."