Chapter 6

Laura's POV.

I stood outside the office door and took a deep breath. 

The tension back in the office with Lucas still stuck to my skin and it was impossible to shake it off me, no matter how hard I tried.

I pressed my fingers into my palm, grounding myself, and reminding myself why I had walked out of his office in the first place.

I had done the right thing. I had to believe that.

The same man whose hands I still felt in quiet moments. The same man my body remembered too well. No man had ever made my body respond the way he did. No man had ever made me lose myself like that in so much sexual desire and pleasure. No man had ever made me cum like that. And the worst part wasn't the memory, it was how alive it still felt inside of me.

I hated myself for it.

I hated that even after everything, my body still reacted to him. That my thoughts still drifted back to that night. That part of me wanted something I had no right to want.

Zara's face flashed in my mind. What mattered most to me was her wellbeing. Most especially her love and relationship with her father and her blinded trust in me.

I wouldn't be the reason anything broke between them. Even if it meant me breaking myself instead, just to make sure there is always happiness in her life and not sadness.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next morning came too fast. I stood outside the office building for a full minute, my hand wrapped tightly around the strap of my bag, forcing myself to breathe. In and out.

I had never dreaded work before. I had never stood outside a building wondering if walking in could ruin me. But this wasn't just work anymore. This wasn't a job.

Lucas was inside.

My Boss.

I straightened my shoulders and walked in. But my hands shook the entire time. I stopped at the reception and I stared at my reflection in the mirror but it was longer than usual, trying to recognize the woman staring back at me. I was wondering how I could look so normal when everything inside me felt wrong. 

Today was my last day in the office. At least, that was the plan. I didn't want to work with Lucas anymore.

I was already seated at my desk, pretending to focus, when his voice came through the intercom.

“Laura, come in.”

I walked into his office with an envelope in my hand and placed it neatly on his desk. He didn't open it immediately. He looked at me instead.

“What's this?” he asked.

“My resignation,” I replied calmly. “I won't be working with the company anymore.”

Silence enveloped us for a brief moment before he finally broke it. 

“No,” he said and my lips parted open in surprise.

“Excuse me?”

“You're preparing for the next meeting,” he continued, already turning back to his laptop. “The board members will arrive in thirty minutes.”

“I just told you I'm leaving. And I am serious about it,” I replied. “I don't think this arrangement works.”

“It does,” he said calmly, without looking up. “You are coming with me.”

And just like that, the conversation ended.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The conference room was already full with investors and executives when we walked in. They all had their polished smiles on their faces. 

Everything was set. It was all perfect and professional. Lucas took his seat at the head of the table and I sat beside him. My heart was beating so loudly that I almost believed he could hear it.

That was a big mistake of mine.

The meeting started smoothly. Lucas stood up, speaking with confidence and with a steady voice, commanding the room like it belonged to him. Because it did. People listened when he talked.

I hated how attractive that was.

“Laura, hand over the quarterly report.” one of the board members said, holding out his hand without looking at me.

That was when I knew I needed to start messing up. So I hesitated on purpose.

I slid a folder across the table to the board member. And after a while, I spoke up.

“Sir, that's the wrong document.," I said politely and Lucas paused.

The man frowned at me. “Is it?” 

“That's one last quarter. You'll need the updated version.” I said, flipping the folder open.

Lucas's eyes flicked to me. But he continued anyway.

Two minutes later, I cleared my throat.

“I'm sorry,” I said, standing up. “Are we discussing the marketing projections now or later? I just want to be sure I'm following.”

A few heads turned towards my direction and someone spoke up.

“We already covered that.”

“Oh, my mistake” I replied softly, sitting back down. 

Lucas’s jaw tightened. I dropped my pen and it rolled loudly across the table. I bent to retrieve it. The water in the glasses on the table shook slightly and someone chuckled awkwardly.

“Laura, can I get the printed charts?” one of the investors asked and I nodded my head before speaking up.

“Sure.” I replied and I passed out the printed charts but I knew one page was missing. I hid it on purpose.

“I think page six is gone.” the investor said.

“That's odd. I printed everything.” I replied, scrolling through my tablet like I hadn't removed it on purpose. Lucas glanced at me and I saw the way his eyes stared at me with so much intensity.

As Lucas continued. I still tapped on the screen of my tablet, the soft beep echoing louder than it should have. A woman across from me frowned at me.

“Laura. Turn on the projector and show everyone what we have worked on.” Lucas said.

I grabbed the remote beside me and clicked on it. Nothing happened, I clicked again. Still nothing.

“I'm so sorry. It worked earlier,” I said, smiling politely as everyone turned to look at me.

Lucas glanced at the screen, then at me.

“Try again.” he said and I did.

The screen suddenly flashed. It wasn't the presentation, but an entirely different slide. I had managed to tamper with it before heading to the conference room.

It was a spreadsheet draft that inscribed- DO NOT PRESENT.

Someone coughed and another investor leaned forward. “Is that finalized?”

“Oh no. I'll fix that. That's definitely not the final version. That one has errors.” I said quickly and I stood up instantly. My chair scraped loudly against the floor, rushing to adjust the projector that wasn't broken. The screen flickered and someone cleared their throat.

Lucas stopped talking. For half a second, I thought he might finally snap. He folded his arms and I finally had to get the right slide up, but I purposely used my elbow to knock over a glass of water.

And it spilled straight towards Lucas files.

“Oh my God. I'm so sorry.” I exclaimed, grabbing a napkin sluggishly and it became too late for me, because Lucas grabbed the papers just in time.

“I'm so clumsy today. It must be my nervous system.” I muttered.

A few people laughed awkwardly and the meeting continued. I passed documents around the table and I made sure one investor didn't get any.

“Miss Laura. I don't have a document,” he said, raising his hand.

“Oh!” I gasped. “I skipped you. I'm so sorry.”

I handed him the papers but I turned it upside down. And he turned them to the right position.

Lucas cleared his throat and I sat down back on my seat, crossing and uncrossing my legs. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from smiling.

“Laura, I need the finance documents.” Lucas said and I stood up too fast.

“I've got them,” I said, flipping through my folder. “Just one second.”

I pulled out the wrong document.

Then another.

Then another.

“These are…not it. Wow. That's embarrassing.” I admitted.

Lucas stared straight ahead and his expression was unreadable. I finally found the right page and began reading it, then I stopped.

“Oh. This doesn't look right.” I said softly.

“What do you mean?” an investor asked.

“I think the numbers were updated last night,” I said, turning to Lucas. “Didn’t you approve the revised version?”

Lucas' eyes snapped to me.

“No. I didn't.” he said slowly.

“Oh. Then, that's my mistake.”

A board member asked a question, I answered before Lucas could, my voice slightly too loud, and explaining something that he had already covered.

Lucas turned his head, his eyes meeting mine in the conference room.

By the time the meeting ended, everyone exchanged looks at each other. No one said anything out loud, but everyone had noticed.

Everyone except Lucas who has pretended not to. 

When the conference room was finally emptied, he closed the door behind the last person and turned to face me.

“What was that,?” he asked calmly and I swallowed hard.

“I'm sorry if I disrupted the meeting. It wasn't intentional.”

He stepped closer to me. Too close.

“You think I don't know what you're doing?” he asked quietly. I looked up at him, my heart almost skipped a beat .

“You’re trying to make me fire you,” he continued, his voice low, leaning in just enough to make my breath hitch and his eyes locked on mine “But no matter what you do, Laura _”

“I won't fire you.”