002

April's pov.

The taste of alcohol lingered in his breath, and just before I settled into the tenderness of the kiss, something snapped within me.

What the hell was I doing!? This was the same man who had made my life a living hell and treated me like I was disposable. 

Grunting, I pressed my palms firmly against his chest and shoved him harder than I intended. He fell off me, landing next to me with a groan and his fingers digging into his forehead. 

I rose to my feet, my heart slamming against my chest as the feeling of his lips on mine continued to torture me. This shouldn't have happened, how was I to face him now?

He slowly got up too, still rubbing his temple and barely looking at me. He looked like a mess, with hair scattered all over his face and feet shuffling around as he tried to stay up. 

“I.. I should go.” I gulped, hurriedly making my way towards the door. 

“April.. wait.” 

That was the first time he had called me by my first name, and I tried so hard to ignore how good it sounded. 

However, I didn't stop, I ran out of the office like my life depended on it, reaching my desk to grab my purse. My heart kept racing as I made my way down the long, quiet halls of the building, every part of me screaming at me. 

What if the kiss made things worse between us? No.. he was drunk, he probably won't even remember the kiss and that was exactly what I wanted. I needed this night to die for good. 

I got home that night and found my mom already asleep in the living room. She was probably waiting for me, so I placed a blanket over her, kissed her forehead and went inside to freshen up with the kiss still playing at the back of my mind. 

****

“Good morning, mom. I have your reports, they came in this morning.” My eyes watered as I walked into my mother's room. 

“Baby? What's wrong?” Her eyebrows furrowed in concern as she straightened up on the bed. 

My hands trembled, my lips barely able to part. My mother was all I had, and finding out that she had second stage cancer broke me to pieces. And now, in my hand was the bill for her surgery, a staggering amount of money that even my paycheck couldn't cover. 

“April, what is it?” She asked again. 

I fell into the bed next to her, tears soaking my white shirt when she snatched the paper from me. 

“Oh my goodness!” She gasped. 

“What are we going to do now?” I bit my lip until it bled, my chest twisting in pain. I didn't want to lose my mother, but at the same time, I didn't have enough money to take care of her. 

“I'm so sorry for putting this pressure on you, April. I'm.. I'm sorry.” She sobbed harder, so I pulled her to my chest, hugging her tightly. 

“I'm sorry.”

“Don't be mom, I will find a way to pay for the surgery, I promise. You're going to be fine.” I sniffed, deciding to be strong even though I was breaking apart on the inside. 

“I'll take extra hours, work other shifts, and I'll make it happen.” I added and she pulled away, giving me an apologetic look. 

“You don't deserve this..” 

“I have to get to work, mom.” I got off the bed, wiping my tears with the back of my palm. “That's the only way I can afford this surgery. I have to work.” 

I pressed a kiss to her cheek before making my way out of her room. I ended up sobbing for five more minutes in the living room of our small apartment before I finally left for work.

Time to face the asshole I call a boss again. I wondered if he still remembered what happened between us last night. Shaking the thought off, I got into the waiting taxi. 

The moment the taxi came to a halt in front of RW Enterprise, something tightened in my stomach, causing me to clutch my purse tighter. That was when I noticed that my phone was buzzing non-stop in the purse. I dug through the scattered purse as I stepped down from the taxi but I paused when I saw the crowd that had gathered outside the office building. 

Cameras, reporters, and a whole lot of noise. I gulped as I moved forward, wondering what was going on. Rowan didn't tell me that he was having a press conference. 

The closer I drew to the crowd, the more dreadful I felt. Eyes followed me, other coworkers who were also just arriving stared at me with a disdain I had never seen before. 

I lowered my eyes out of habit, because I hated being the center of attention and continued walking towards the entrance. Just before I reached the press, someone called out to me, taking me by surprise. 

“April O’Reilly! There she is!” 

A gasp tore from my lips when I looked up and found all cameras pointed to my face. The flashes came quickly, making me shut my eyes and stagger back. Then, microphones were shoved in my face, questions coming from every angle, too fast for me to comprehend. 

“Are you the woman in the video, April?” 

“Did you really seduce your boss or did he force you to do this?” 

“Is this how you got your job?” 

I couldn't breathe, and my head spun badly. The flashes and questions kept coming at the same time, and it felt like I was going to pass out at any second. 

Holding my trembling hand against my chest, I fought my way through the crowd, and just at the right time, a hand grabbed me and pulled me through the glass doors. 

“Are you okay?” That was the receptionist, but I couldn't answer because I was still trying to catch my breath. 

“April?” 

“What's… what's going on?” I panted, looking around at all the venomous eyes roaming my body at the same time. 

“Are you kidding? The video is everywhere.” She scoffed and pointed to the television. 

I turned slowly, and almost lost my balance when I saw a video of myself and Rowan on the news. The kiss… it was everywhere. Someone recorded us! 

Oh my God! Oh my God! 

“No..” my breath hitched. “No!” 

“She's such a whore..” someone whispered.

“I always suspected them, how disgusting.” Another person added. 

With tears burning the corners of my eyes, I turned towards the elevator in an attempt to escape and ended up bumping face first into a hard chest that I recognized too well.

Rowan. 

“My office, now.”