20

"How old were you when you first had sex?"

"Whoa!" Noah feigned surprise at her question.

Ingrid laughed. "Just curious, Sir."

"I was... fifteen."

Her eyes widened. "Fifteen?"

"Well, almost sixteen, I think." He laughed. "Okay, fifteen and a half."

"With your girlfriend?"

Noah shook his head. "No, no. I didn’t have a girlfriend then. In fact, I only started dating in my last year of college."

"Then with whom?" Wow, she was really getting nosy when it came to this guy.

"With this girl... I met her in the province. It was summer, and there was this pretty girl from Cebu who visited—she was a relative of one of our neighbors. She caught me watching her swimming naked in the river."

"Ayyy, were you peeking?"

"No. Well, I didn’t mean to see her there, so yeah, I watched." He laughed and scratched the back of his head. "So that’s it. We met at the river and talked. Then we met again and eventually ended up having sex. We were safe, by the way. She brought a condom. She was already experienced."

"How old was she then?"

"She was nineteen, I think. Or twenty. She wasn’t a minor, that’s for sure."

"And she still had sex with you? But you were still a minor."

"I lied to her; she thought I was already eighteen."

"What happened between you afterward?"

"Well, we had sex several times, and then we parted ways. Last I heard, she’s married now."

Ingrid rested her chin on her hand and stared at him. "So, she was the one who taught you?"

"Something like that. But even before that, I already knew things about sex. I was well-informed. My mom didn’t forbid me from watching or reading p**n. That helped a lot, I think, because even though I had experience at fifteen, I still managed to abstain until I finished college."

"Hmmm, you're something else, Sir. Usually, those who get exposed to sex early end up craving it more."

"Well, not me. In my case, it made me more cautious. I didn’t want to get someone pregnant before finishing college, so I decided not to do it again. Even with protection, I knew sometimes it could still fail. I wanted to be ready just in case. At least, if something happened, I wouldn’t be a student anymore, and I could earn money on my own. So if what happened between us tonight leads to something, you don’t need to worry. I will support you and—"

"Sir Noah, I’m sure I’m safe this week, trust me," she said. "The calendar method worked well for my mom. I used to rely on it too, and it never failed—until I had to start taking pills."

"Why did you start taking pills?"

Ingrid sighed. "W-well, my ex couldn’t wait for my safe days, so he forced me to take pills. I eventually agreed because I didn’t want to get pregnant."

And then memories started flooding in.

At first, Ingrid hid from her parents that she and Eric were having sex. But someone who saw them enter a motel in the next town told her father. He tried to force her to marry Eric, but she stood her ground. That was the first time she defied her father—and she used it to guilt-trip him.

"Dad, I never disobeyed any of your rules, so please let me have this one. Let me decide who I marry. We're talking about the rest of my life here," she pleaded.

Her father could do nothing but threaten Eric: if he got her pregnant, he would be forced to take responsibility. Ingrid didn’t comment on that. But one thing she learned from that time, aside from being able to stand up to her father, was that she and her mom were nothing alike, despite what people said. She was her own person.

"I'm sorry to say this, but your boyfriend is such a douchebag," Noah cut into her thoughts.

"Douchebag is an understatement," she replied. "He's a useless piece of shit," she muttered harshly, surprising even herself because she never cursed, especially not at the table. "Would you believe he convinced me to have sex with him by saying, 'If you love me, you’ll prove it'? And he even threatened that he might look for someone else to relieve himself if I didn’t. And me being stupid, I gave in—even though he just used me for sex."

Noah looked at her, a mix of disbelief and fury in his expression. Like he wanted to punch the guy they were talking about.

"Then, he still wasn't satisfied with me. Because our sex was scheduled at first, whenever he couldn't wait, he would look for other women. When I got angry, he blamed me instead, saying I should take birth control pills so he could use me whenever he wanted," she continued. "He said it was a woman's obligation in a relationship to give in to a man's desire for sex."

Now, his jaw dropped. "Use you? Obligation? What the hell?"

Ingrid wanted to bury her face in shame. "I know, I know. I was so pathetic."

My God! She was too embarrassed to admit that almost all their sex didn’t give her any pleasure because he often came first and didn’t even wait for her. Her first time had hurt like hell because she wasn’t ready when he entered her.

Eric would call her whenever he was horny, and they’d go to cheap motels or sneak into his parents’ house if no one was home. His goal was just to get off—that was probably his life motto. He didn’t care how she felt during sex.

So lazy! All he knew was the missionary position. He’d just lie on top of her, kiss her, grope her, and then penetrate. Eric didn’t care whether she was ready. He couldn’t even last a few minutes. He just wanted to get off.

"No, he was pathetic!" Noah said. Now he was fuming. His nose practically flaring from anger.

Ingrid quickly gestured with her hands. "Oh my gosh, Sir. Let’s stop talking about him. We’re losing our appetite. That’s the past. I’m different now because I learned my lesson. I’m starting a new life, and I think I’m doing just fine." She pushed her plate of cinnamon rolls toward him. "Here, have some. I can’t finish it—it’s too big."

---

It was already dark when Ingrid and Noah got back to her apartment. She had declined his invitation to eat out because she was still full from their snack, and she needed to bring home the fish and meat she bought at the grocery.

While Ingrid was in the kitchen unpacking groceries, Noah went to her room—probably to get his bag.

A strange sense of sadness crept into Ingrid’s chest. She wanted to laugh at herself. Why would she feel sad that he was leaving? He was supposed to leave last night. He only stayed longer because they enjoyed having sex. And, well, they apparently also enjoyed going out and talking to each other.

She was on her way to the living room when she met Noah coming out of her room, carrying his black duffle bag.

She tried to keep her voice from sounding sad. "Are you leaving?"

"Yeah."

Why did his smile seem forced, his voice tinged with regret? Or was it just her? Maybe she was just assuming.

She followed Noah to the front door. As he turned the doorknob, he looked back at her.

"Ingrid..."

Her heart raced. "Y-yes?"

"Would you want me to stay?"

"I-it’s up to you. If you’ve got nothing else to do, you can spend the night—"

Her rambling was cut off when Noah cupped the back of her head and kissed her.

That kiss instantly lit her up. How could a kiss make her feel this much? She was like dry leaves catching fire. With her ex, it took more than a kiss to arouse her—and even then, he didn’t care. Eric would still have sex with her even if she wasn’t in the mood, saying it was her “duty.”

Ah, screw that guy. She didn’t need to think about him anymore. Noah was holding her now and giving her a new kind of sensation. They didn’t even need much foreplay this time—they were already fired up from that kiss.

"Damn tight jeans," Noah muttered as he pulled down her pants.

"S-Sir Noah!" she exclaimed when he knelt and spread her legs. "I don’t think I can wait," Ingrid warned him before he could bury his face between her thighs. "I want to come with you, inside me," she declared, pulling him up.

Noah turned her to face the wall and entered her from behind. She bent forward and braced herself against the wall as he thrust deep inside.

She once read that doggy style was dirty and impersonal. She didn’t care. There was nothing unpleasant about being taken like this by Noah last night—she enjoyed every bit of it. Yeah, Ingrid discovered she actually liked it rough and wild like this. She wouldn’t trade it for the boring, lazy missionary sex that had made her sick before. She wanted to be fucked. Hard.

"Ooh! More, please," she moaned shamelessly as he drove deeper.

She slapped the wall when he reached around to grab her breasts while thrusting faster. Then he pulled her upright and pressed her against the wall, crushing her chest against the cold surface. Noah raised her arms above her head and pinned her wrists.

"I love ramming your tight pussy," he growled between heavy breaths. "You feel exquisite."

Ingrid giggled. "And I love it when you talk dirty, Sir. You’re contagious."

"Contagious? I think it’s really in you, Ingrid. You’ve just been holding back."

"Really, huh? Well, I guess so. Just look at me now. I’m fucking my boss."

"Ah, princess. I love it when you say the word 'fuck'." She wanted to laugh at the way he called her "princess" during sex. Wasn’t that disrespectful to fairy tales? But then again, didn’t the prince in Rapunzel’s story climb the tower to have sex with her? That’s how the folklore went—before Disney sanitized it.

"Oh, don’t stop... Don’t stop!" she moaned like crazy as her climax approached.

"I’m getting close," Noah said.

"Me too."

The apartment echoed with their moans and the slap of skin against skin. How Noah could pound like a jackhammer amazed her. He was so strong and agile.

"F-fuck. Ingrid!" he groaned as he climaxed.

"Oh, God. Sir... Noah!" she cried out as she reached her peak.

He kept thrusting as he came inside her, flooding her. Her body shook from the bliss, and he held her tightly as they both floated in ecstasy.

---

Ingrid burst out laughing at the scene where she woke up to that Sunday morning—it was her boss, washing dirty dishes in her kitchen sink.

"Sir, why are you doing the dishes?" she asked in a panic, quickly hurrying toward him.

Of all the people she'd seen washing dishes, he was probably the hottest. Why? Because Noah was only wearing black boxer shorts.

"I’ll take over from here," she said, standing beside him at the sink.

"I’m almost done," he replied.

"You know how to do the dishes?" she asked in amazement as she watched him.

"My housekeeper May is off during weekends, so I do it myself. No biggie, really."

"You're such a kind boss."

"You should know. I’m nice to you," he said, glancing at her and winking. "Anyway, I ordered food for lunch. It should arrive any minute now. Is Chinese food okay?"

"That’s my favorite, Sir. Thank you." She looked toward the coffeemaker. "You haven’t had coffee yet," she said, walking over to it.

"I was waiting for you to wake up. Sorry, but you really got me spoiled with your coffee."

Ingrid smiled as memories from the night before flashed in her mind. They made love all night and only stopped when the sun had risen. During every moment of intimacy, she never once felt like Noah was just using her or treating her like an object. He was passionate and giving—a generous lover. Would it be crazy to think every woman deserves a man like him in bed?

"This has been one of those extraordinary weekends," Noah said with a smile as they sat down to eat.

"I agree," she smiled back.

"You don’t have to go to work tomorrow if you don’t want to. I think I wore you out."

Ingrid laughed. "Honestly, I feel sore all over, but I’ll survive. And besides, who’s going to make your coffee, Sir?"

"Right. What am I going to do without you, Miss Delgado?"

Was he trying to be cute?

"Oh! By the way, I think I already told you—I’ll be on leave this Wednesday to Friday, right? That was scheduled even before I transferred to your team."

"I’m sure it’s in my reminders. What are you planning to do on those days, if you don’t mind me asking?"

"I’m going home with Pat. It’s her dad’s birthday on Friday."

Her mom had called her the night before to remind her. She was firm in asking Ingrid to come home. She hadn’t been back since Christmas—and now it is already June. Half a year had passed. She hadn’t realized she’d gotten used to being away from home. She wasn’t sure if she should be sad or proud of that.

"You’ll be back next Monday, right?" Noah asked, sounding a little concerned.

She gave him a soft smile. "Yes."

They didn’t go out after lunch. Instead, they chatted for a while and then watched a movie on N*****x. Ingrid wasn’t sure if she just wasn’t into the movie or if she simply preferred talking to Noah. She dozed off halfway through. The next thing she knew, she was being carried to bed.

"Oh, my God! I-I dozed off," she said shyly. "I’m sorry."

"It’s all right. I exhausted you this weekend," Noah said with a soft chuckle as he gently laid her down. "I should go," he said. "No need to get up. I’ll lock the door."

"Okay. Drive safe," she reminded him.

He sighed. "Thank you for this wonderful weekend, Ingrid."

"I should be the one thanking you. Y-you... you made me feel so special," she said sincerely.

He gently cupped her cheek. "You are very special. Don’t ever let anyone make you think otherwise, understand?"

She nodded, smiling. "Yes, thank you."

She closed her eyes when he kissed her—a light, sweet, almost chaste kiss that made her feel like a princess. Crazy, but that’s how she felt.

She opened her eyes with a smile. "You know, you’re kind of making this too difficult for me," she admitted.

"Am I?" he smiled back. "These past two days with you—I forgot we had to go back to work tomorrow. Maybe it’ll be awkward. Honestly, I don’t know."

"I’ll still act professionally around you, don’t worry," Ingrid assured him. "And if Mariz comes back, we won’t really see much of each other at RTA. Everything will go back to normal, like nothing ever happened between us."

"Right."

The next day at work...

---

Ingrid looked up from her desk with a smile as she spotted her boss approaching his office.

"Good morning, Miss Delgado," Noah greeted her with a formal smile.

"Good morning, Sir," she replied with a polite smile of her own.

If they hadn’t quickly looked away from each other, they would’ve caught the overly sweet smiles both had on their faces.