I groaned and snoozed my alarm for the fifth time that morning. I changed my position and shoved my face into the pillow.

What time was it anyway?

My eyes slowly widened as ringing bells sounded in my head. It was Tuesday not Saturday. I quickly sat up and grabbed my phone from the bedside table. My hands pulled my hair back from my face and I nearly shit myself seeing what time it was. I was fourty five minutes behind the new schedule I'd been religiously following since last week.

The next thirty minutes were a blur, showering, dressing and brushing; I was unsure what order everything followed but after leaving my apartment, I patted myself for not having on two different pairs of shoes.

I splurged and took a taxi directly to work. Walking inside the building, I checked my time again and groaned; a whole hour late. On reaching my floor, I didn't expect to see my boss, his PA and Heather converged in the passageway.

All eyes turned to me.

"Miss Duhamels, how lovely of you to finally join us." William announced sarcastically.

"I–"

"There is never an excuse for being late." Lilian eyed me sternly as she spoke.

"I h–"

"Did you lose a loved one?"

"No, I–"

"Did you have an accident?" She cut off my pathetic attempts to form an excuse again and stared at me expectantly. I shook my head and she concluded, "no excuses at all."

William looked at me, gestured towards his office and walked in. Like a child about to be reprimanded for wrongdoings, I followed. Heather was kind enough to offer a sign of sympathy.

I closed the door behind me and waited.

"One strike, you've lost one strike and only two left now."

"What?"

"You must have thought I was joking then?"

"No." I gritted out.

"Good, you may leave." He waved his hand dismissively and I wanted so badly to throttle him.

Leaving his office only proved to be one fire to another. Lilian stood opposite the door with her two hands set on her waist, looking as stern as she did yesterday and earlier. The look must be her trademark.

"You can sit and we will begin." She motioned to my chair. I went to sit and the next few hours were filled with basics and dos and don'ts.

"My last and certainly not the least important lesson for the day is," she paused for effect, "do not sleep with your boss, ever."

I nearly snorted. William Illston, self-made billionaire extraordinaire

must have been every bachelorette's dream at the moment but they were also unaware of his true colours and character. Heather giggled and my eyes lifted to see Lilian's unmistakable gaze on me. I was immediately offended.

"Why are you staring at me, Heather is very much a female as I am."

"I'm engaged," she smiled and shyly raised her hand to show off the engagement ring which I, for the first time just noticed. Had she always had it on?

"I haven't had it on since, it was getting resized." She explained.

"Oh, congratulations on your engagement then." I smiled.

"Yes Heather congratulations but the point remains, never sleep with your boss." Lilian said bringing us back to the topic and again holding me with her accusatory stare.

"And what if it is the other way around?" I shot at her.

"Absolutely no need to worry about that." Her smile was dismissive.

I bit my inner cheek and silently stewed. I wondered how pompous she'd still feel if she knew I'd already slept with the boss, not once nor twice; albeit a long time ago.

***

8 years ago...

"I'm not going to lie, I'll probably ditch you like within the next five minutes." My roommate, Demi said.

"Expected nothing less." I said.

"All you have to do is tag along or come find me." She grinned and we walked into the frat house together. It was my sixth Friday night on campus and Demi, who was in her second year had resigned herself to keeping me from spending another night reading and lamenting about everything.

The party was already in full swing when we arrived. The frat house reeked of hormones, sweat, alcohol and sex. I crinkled my nose and nearly tripped over a transparent plastic cup that had been carelessly discarded.

"Careful there," Demi righted me.

"Demi, yo!" A pink haired girl came along and dragged my roommate away.

"And then there was me." I sighed looking around. There was nothing fun about partying alone. My phone beeped from the pocket of my short flare gown and I removed it.

From:

be safe babe n kitchen is d first door on d right frm main door n don't be a loner n come find me if u want!♡

I didn't reply her message but rather followed her directions till I was in the kitchen. Only a couple deeply engrossed in each other sat on the counter, surrounded by empty cans and cups, were there. I stepped past them to the fridge and pulled out what looked like a beer.

I wondered upstairs with my beer in hand hoping to find an empty room to lock myself in. I had the option of going to look for Demi and actually partying but I was feeling a bit melancholic tonight and preferred to remain alone.

Two occupied rooms later, I finally found an empty one. The lighting was dark but the silhouette of everything inside was clear enough. I locked the door with the key and moved to the bed then sat on the edge. Two minutes into a video about dolphins on my phone, another door in the room opened and a guy came out.

"I'm sorry, is this your room?" I asked standing up from the bed.

He walked closer.

"Ophelia?"

I stared at the stranger who knew my name, in question, till recognition clicked.

"Oh, you're the guy who spilled his coffee all over me."

"By mistake, yes." He smiled, "Why are you up here and not down there?" He sat on the bed and leaned against the headboard.

"My roommate ditched me but really I'm just having one of those days," I shrugged and sat down back but faced him, "is that a bathroom?"

He nodded then explained. "This is the head frat's room."

I tilted my head, "you don't really come across as a frat boy."

"God no," he laughed, "this is my friend's room, I stay off campus."

I nodded then he spoke again.

"So how do you like New York now?" He smirked.

"Still not as inclined. The weather is terrible." I said and he laughed again.

"I've lived here all my life, I think I might love it."

"Love and New York? They hardly go."

"What? All the best romcoms are made here. What you need is someone to show you around, I'm free on Wednesday," he winked and I rolled my eyes, "I just want to be your tour guide, nothing more."

"You are so smooth, your parents must be very proud." I laughed.

"I'd like to believe so," his smile wasn't as smug as before, "up there and all."

"Oh, I'm-, my condolences." I sincerely said and his smile brightened. He was quite handsome.

"It's okay, they passed away when I was like ten, it's been a while." He said and I nodded.

Our conversation didn't deter from the brief awkwardness. Rather, he continued to probe me, flirt and make silly jokes. My shell slowly cracked and soon we were on the same frequency.

Hours unknowingly passed with my position shifting till I laid in a similar one to his, against the headboard. We talked about our majors, he was a computer science major in his third year and I, a business admin major, minoring in computer science. We talked about our families, he had a sister and an uncle. I told him about my sister and our petty beefs. We laughed and argued about everything and nothing. Time faded into the background until I yawned.

"I wonder what time it is." He mused and I checked my phone that'd been discarded for a while. It was nearly 3:00 am. We'd been talking for nearly four hours.

"I'll take you to your dorm if you're ready or would you rather stay here?" He stared at the bed and winked. Although my tummy dipped, I rolled my eyes.

I stood up and stretched, "you never stop, do you?"

"Nah," he shrugged and I smiled as we left the room. The party downstairs had thinned a little but it was still crowded. My gaze wondered a bit, hoping to see Demi's braids or grey crop top. As we walked through the people who remained dancing, William's larger warm hand pulled mine into his hold.

"This is your ride?" I asked after he released my hand and patted the motorcycle parked in front of the frat house.

"Yes." He smiled proudly.

"I can't climb it, I'm wearing a dress." I quickly said.

"But it's not tight." He pointed out.

"I really can't climb it." I shook my head. I was absolutely not ready to die.

"I'll let you off for today but next time, I won't." He said and my insides slightly warmed at the thought of a next time.

"Let's go, which way is your dorm?" He asked.

"You'll walk with me?"

"Would you rather walk alone?" He raised one of his dark brows.

"No." I quickly said and he smiled. He held out his hand and I took it. He pulled me closer and released my hand to wrap his arm around my shoulder instead, as we walked down the pathway leading to my dorm.

"Cheer up and enjoy this lovely New York night breeze."

"It's freezing."

"That's why I'm keeping you warm," He turned his head and winked, "or should I be a gentleman and give you my jacket.

"Do you want to?"

"No, I'll freeze to death." He said seriously and I smiled.

Time seemingly faded into the background again as we walked to my dorm discussing random things.

"This is it," I said when we reached, "thank you for escorting me back."

"It's nothing."

"It just occured to me you'll have to go back alone, sorry." I smiled apologetically and he grinned.

"I'm a big boy, I'm sure I can handle it." He winked. He was tall, not at all burly, lanky even but had the most beautiful facial features. His eyes were dark brown, almost matching his dark brown hair. The street lights flickered and he turned.

"You sure you'll be okay big boy?" I teased.

"Well I mean if you have space up there, I don't mind." He wiggled his brows and I shook my head.

"Goodnight William." I smiled backing away.

"Goodnight Ophelia." He smiled before turning back down to the pathway.

As I walked up the stairs to my room, I realized in dismay that we didn't even exchange numbers.

***