𝐀𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐲𝐚
I'd sworn off of love and men after the fiasco that was my last relationship. Until I spent one steamy and passionate night with a dark haired stranger. A man that I thought I'd never see again. Until I found out that he was my new boss...
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My nerves were getting the best of me. I could feel it. But I could do this. It wasn't a big deal. I mean, it was normal for employees to ask their bosses for one night of steamy sex, right? Totally. Due to my internal freak out, I'd been avoiding Neil the whole day as much as I could. Whenever he called me into his cabin to discuss something about work, I'd avoid eye contact. If I wanted to ask him something, I'd email him. It had gotten to a point where the rest of my colleagues had been shooting me weird looks throughout the day. Yeah, totally not guilty.
But the time had come now. Pretty much everyone had left and Neil and I were the only ones on the floor currently. It wasn't out of the norm, really, since the two of us always ended up working late. Just as I was about to work up the nerve to get up and knock on Neil's door, Tina passed by me. From what I had gathered in the past month and a half, she worked in HR and had a notorious reputation for being a bitter hag. Oh, also, she'd been the apparent cause behind the Millers' divorce - or so I'd heard through the office grapevine.
I pretended to be focused on my work, my eyes going blurry from staring at the screen so long. Feeling her gaze on me, I turned around and finally acknowledged her.
"Need any help, Tina?" I asked, as she just stood there, staring at me through narrowed eyes.
"Not really..." She drawled, her tone insinuating that I wasn't going to like what she was about to say. "I was just wondering how coincidental it is that you and Neil always end up working late."
"I guess we're just hard workers unlike some people in this office." I shrugged.
"Sure. I just find it a bit odd that you've gotten such a high ranking position with barely a few years of experience."
"What, exactly, are you trying to imply Tina?" I say icily, my hackles raised. "Are you saying that I haven't earned this position?"
"Oh no, honey. That's all you. I never said anything. I was just musing out loud."
"Save your musing for later." I bit out as she turned to walk towards the elevators. "Oh, and Tina?" I waited for her to turn around. "Jealousy doesn't suit you. Maybe try working harder to earn your spot in the company instead of insinuating shit you don't know about, yeah?"
I could see her face getting red with anger before she stomped away, her heels clacking noisily on the floor. Once the sound had faded along with the ding of the elevator, I finally took a deep breath. Tina had gotten me worked up and I couldn't let that happen - not now when I was going to talk to Neil. This had been my first proper interaction with her and mostly likely last, if I could have any say in it.
My heart thumped hard in my chest as I rapped my knuckles on Neil's door, his deep voice telling me to come in as I opened it.
"Aaliya, you're still here?" He asks, as if he doesn't know that we're both the only ones crazy enough to work past 5pm. Another thing that's common between us. We're workaholics.
