Reina woke up from her sleep with a splitting headache. She suddenly felt nauseous.
She rushed to the bathroom and bent over the sink, throwing up all the contents of her belly.
"Every morning is the same," she thought. "Even if I had nothing in my stomach, this would be my position for at least 20 minutes", Reina sighed.
The whole process left her feeling weak after it was over.
She sat in the bathroom wondering how long it would take till she had normal mornings again.
"The nurse said if I was one of the lucky pregnant women, I would be fine after 8 weeks. Just one more week," she said, "surely I can make it till then."
She recounted the events of last week.
"That interview went well to the best of my knowledge and I should get that job."
She still felt disgusted at Arthur for sleeping with her while married and, worse still, getting her pregnant, so she didn't tell him about her pregnancy.
Still in the same seating position, she heard a chime from her PC in the room.
"That's an email coming in" she said.
She got up to check her mailbox.
Dear Reina Pratt,
We are pleased to formally confirm your resumption as Head of Marketing at ….
YES!
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Reina chanted as she danced around her room.
She picked up her phone to call Diane. 'You have reached Daine, please leave a message…' Daine's answering machine replied.
"What kind of best friend leaves her pregnant friend hanging for days? I've been trying to reach you forever! I'm starting to get worried, please call me immediately," she said into her phone's receiver.
She refused to panic as this was normal behavior for Daine to go off for days at intervals.
"It's just been four days. If I survived her one full week of no contact while she was perfectly fine, surely I could survive this one", Reina said to herself.
********
"Good morning Miss Paige", Reina greeted the receptionist cheerfully.
"Welcome Miss Reina," Paige replied as she smiled back at her.
"Ready to resume work?"
"Oh yes, I'm more than excited," Reina replied.
"That's good, please join me. Mr. Arthur requested to see you once you arrived," Paige said.
"Requested to see me? Why is that, Miss Paige?" Reina asked.
"I have no idea, Miss Reina, just come with me," she replied.
Together they took the elevator to Mr. Arthur's office.
—--
"Thank you, Paige, go back to your office now" Arthur commanded.
"Yes sir" Paige replied as she immediately turned back to her office.
"Sit down, Reina" he ordered.
What's with that tone? If he wasn't my boss, I would have taught him how to properly talk to a lady, Reina thought.
She sat down gently despite how much her temper was threatening to erupt.
"There has been a change in your position. My personal assistant had an emergency to attend to back home, so she flew to Korea this morning. I'm a very busy person and have enough on my hands to be without an assistant. This automatically means you will be resuming work as my personal assistant. I'm yet to decide if that will be your permanent position in my company, but for now, assume the role."
If you are good enough, I might decide to keep you." he concluded, lowering his gaze to her neckline.
She doesn't even have to do too much to have me feeling all this. This is new.
I've never felt this for someone before.
Yes, I've been attracted to dozens of women, but once I've had them, everything dies down.
What's with this woman, and what spell has she cast on me? Arthur pondered.
"And what if I don't want that position?" Reina spoke up, interrupting his thoughts.
"Hmmm, she is feisty," Arthur said to himself. Does she think she has a say in this?
He stood up and went over to her seat. He held her face with his right hand and, staring deep into her eyes, he said in a deep, low voice.
"Remember how I held you the night we made love, sliding my hands down your throat like this… You will work for me as my assistant because I own you."
They were both breathing deeply, staring at each other.
He moved his hands into her hair and pulled it to have her looking up at him. She released a tiny gasp.
Hearing that, he felt his control snap.
He held the back of her head and tugged her face at his,
Hesitating for a few seconds to stare at her full, shiny, rosy lips that were calling him to kiss her.
Then she said to him, "What are you waiting for? Do it."
That was all he needed to hear.
He kissed her fully on her lips.
She tasted like apples and smelt heavenly, like a mixture of strawberries and lilies.
She reminded him of his grandmother's garden.
"God, how I've missed these lips" he exclaimed as he deepened the kiss, gliding his tongue over her lips, seeking entrance.
She moaned a little as she parted her lips.
It pleased him that she was also enjoying this as much as he did. She was very responsive.
He began sliding his fingers to the top of her gown…
Just then, his office telephone rang.
"Damn!" he swore under his breath as he broke their kiss.
He went back to his table and picked up the phone to his ear,
"Do not interrupt me!" he barked as he slammed down the receiver.
Oh my God! What am I doing? Reina exclaimed as she quickly straightened her dress.
Making out with a married man in his office while his wife stares at you from their family portrait, kissing the hell out of her husband?
Why am I still attracted to this man this way even after lying and deceiving me?
Get a grip on yourself Reina.
But he made advances at me first.
That doesn't mean you should lose yourself completely to him! Reina battled within herself.
Then she spoke up. "This is a professional environment if you haven't noticed, Mr. Arthur, we shouldn't be doing what we just did. I'm here to work and do just that, so I would appreciate it if you did not try to make advances at me henceforth."
"If I remember correctly, Reina, your hands were on me, gripping my jacket, and you moaned in response to said advances", Arthur said, cutting her off.
Must he describe everything in detail? Reina blushed as she looked down, unable to maintain eye contact anymore.
She summoned courage and looked at him again. "Well then, Mr. Arthur, you should keep your hands to yourself while I keep mine to me."
They stared at each other for five full minutes.
"You seem very feisty, Miss Reina, and I'd love nothing more than to keep you in control. But for now, I'll keep my cool. Your office is adjacent to mine, get to work immediately."
Just then the phone rang again. Arthur, in full-blown anger towards whoever was at the other end, picked up the phone and was about to yell when the person spoke up.
"You beat me to it again, expect my wrath this time" the caller said, and hung up.