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was everyday now, sometimes multiple times. Yesterday, he had rushed over to her place after a Sunday business brunch. The only reason he had even gone to it was because she threatened to withhold sex from him unless he went. When they were done, sweaty and pleasantly satisfied as they languished in the sheets, he often stroked her face, intently studying her every feature. At first it made her squirm, but now….and especially yesterday, she felt her heart stir when he did it.
She had asked him early on why he kept staring.
“Your face mesmerizes me, Vivian.” She had been so flustered by the answer that she hadn’t found the courage to ask him another probing question like that again. His tender comments and looks during the rare moments, when he wasn’t smartly replying to something she said, sent a radiating feeling of peace through her. He made her feel sexy in a way that she hadn’t felt before. It was an odd experience of being entirely unravelled and yet oddly complete at the same time.
“Miss?” She was suddenly aware that she was in the front of the line staring at the confused barista who was holding up a coffee cup and a marker hovering above the small boxes printed on the side. “Your usual?”
“Oh, yes!” she answered and apologized profusely, throwing two extra dollars as a tip to soothe her embarrassment. The barista smiled appreciatively. She peered around her, but none of the other patrons seemed interested in her zoning out, luckily. Most of them were pouring over phones or skimming through newspapers. She grabbed her coffee at the end of the counter when it was ready and headed to the elevator.
Alex was back from France today. She should’ve been relieved, but a pit of despair had begun to form in her core since this morning when she realized that Ben would be leaving soon. They hadn’t discussed it at all. This might be the last day that she could even see him. Her eyes pricked with tears and she pushed them down as the elevator opened to her floor.
Anita was sipping from an identical coffee cup at the front desk. She grinned, holding up her usual soy latte. “Great minds think alike.”
“Especially on Mondays,” Vivian replied with a wink. “Is Alex in yet?”
“Yes, he’s in his office. He said to head in there whenever you can.”
She wished her friend a good morning and made the walk to Alex’s office which felt oddly strange being used to heading to Ben's office around this time. Her heart sunk a little and she stole a glance to the other side of the hallway. Would he be sad to go? If it was today. She silently prayed it was not.
Alex’s door was open and she felt a smile dance on her face on seeing his familiar back hunched over his desk. He turned upon hearing her trademark heels sounding on the tile.
“Vivian!” They exchanged greetings and small hugs. She asked a few polite questions about his trip and his wife’s ongoing pregnancy. Eventually, she had settled in her usual place, a desk across from his own. His phone rang and he ducked out to his balcony to take the call. She glanced over at him, seeing him strolling on the balcony while he nodded and talked animatedly. Typically, she would be overwhelmingly grateful to be back with the best boss in the world, but she felt strangely…empty.
With a little sigh, she went to the stack of papers on her desk. She was just about to open the first folder when Alex opened the door slightly to pop his head back in. He held his phone away from his mouth.
“Hey, Vivian, can you go to Ben’s old office?” he asked.
Her heart dropped. “Old?”
“Yeah, he moved out,” he said quickly. She heard the person on his phone say something and he flew back onto the balcony to handle whatever matter was at hand. The tears she had pushed down earlier surfaced. Her mouth hung open.
Old? What? He moved out? Already? Her vision blurred as the tears flooded out. She stumbled out of her chair and raced towards the door. She heard Alex return to the office behind her. He must’ve seen her face, because he called out her name as she ran down the hallway. She didn’t stop. How could she?
She ignored the alarmed face of a coworker as she passed him, nearly knocking over the box in his arms. Ben’s office seemed ages away, but finally, she was there. She could barely contain herself now. Her chest burned with pain. Her heart slammed violently against her ribs. She choked back a sob and ripped open the door.
The office was empty. Sterile, clean, and cold. She walked towards the desk in a daze. What? How could he just leave? She felt her body sway and clung to the arm of the couch and collapsed into the soft leather. Hot tears rolled down her face as she looked up at the ceiling in disbelief.
He was gone. She threw an arm over her face and cried out into the soft silk of her blouse. She heard rushing footsteps and suddenly Alex’s voice.
“Vivian?! What on Earth is wrong?” He was suddenly hovering over her, clutching her arm. “What happened?”
“He’s gone,” she whispered pitifully, feeling like a complete idiot as her concerned boss fretted over her. He pulled back with a gasp.
“Vivian!”
“I’m so sorry, Alex,” she said with a stifled sob and sat up, trying to collect herself. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t supposed to…I just…” She was lost for words. The pain in her chest swelled until she felt it would burst through her bones. She buried her face in her hands. “I fell in love with him, Alex. I’m so sorry. I’m an idiot. Please fire me.” To think, her boss had trusted her with a simple assignment and she had wrapped herself up in a love affair.
There was silence in the room. And suddenly, another voice.
“Well, Vivian. This is not how I wanted to tell him, but I guess you’ve never been the most subtle woman, have you?”
Her head flew up and she turned with a gasp. Ben was standing in the doorway now. Her jaw dropped.
“He said you moved out.”
“Yes,” he replied with a grin upon seeing her tear-streaked face. He leaned against the doorframe with that little smirk she had grown to love so dearly. “I moved to another office.”
She babbled off some incoherent words and whipped her head back to Alex. Oh, God! She had told him everything! Her poor boss’s face was contorted into the most absurd expression of confusion that she’d ever seen grace his handsome features. He kept looking from her to Ben with huge eyes.
