Harper hadn't slept much since Collette’s charity. It was already Sunday, and her brain still couldn’t seem to erase Alex's naked flesh that was on display right before her very eyes. 11 PM, and she was still wide awake. Kendal must be snoring from the other room already. She should be able to get at least a solid six hours of sleep.
But she didn't.
Instead, she was up all night, trying to figure out how to deal with the recollections of Alex and Valerie’s indecent act. She thought back to the way his naked body pinned Valerie’s on the desk. She remembered the way his head bobbed between Valerie's legs and how Valerie loudly moaned in so much pleasure.
In the back of her mind, she could hear Alex’s deep moan every time he thrust into Valerie, and it made her sick to his stomach. Anger and embarrassment, and stimulation came together, and it made her even madder. She tossed in her bed; the incident seemed to be playing on an endless loop in her head.
It was almost three in the morning when Harper got her much needed doze.
And when the alarm clock buzzed at seven in the morning, her head went for a brief spin. After a moment, she hit the snooze button, then she soon quickly found herself agonizing over everything she did before rolling out of bed and dragged herself to shower. She made breakfast for her and Kendal. Her housemate asked her what was wrong when she pushed the plate away from her after a couple of bites. Kendal knew how much she loved pancakes.
She brushed her teeth with her eyes closed. All she wanted to do was delay going back to work and seeing Alex. She couldn’t wait until her last day at the office.
With so much dread, Harper got in the car and started the drive to work. And in less than half an hour, she found herself sitting in her car, parking in her usual slot. She adjusted her eyeglasses and grabbed her tote bag over her shoulder and got out of the car.
Harper took a deep breath and walked inside Carmichael Tower I. As she waited for the elevator to make its way up to the office, a little part of her wanted to get back in her car and go home. She was exhausted from thinking and lack of sleep. She glanced at the buttons, seriously considering escaping before anyone or Lucas saw her. She shrugged the idea off her mind. One more week and she would be so out of there, for good.
As soon as she got to her desk, she started working on thousands of emails and scheduling Lucas’ interviews for the next few days. It felt weird for her to go through hundreds of applications, qualifying the ones who could replace her. Then the day seemed to start to drag on for her. Lucas had almost never left his office, and avoiding Alex was the least of her concern after learning that their CEO took the earliest flight to Shanghai instead of going on the weekend.
When lunchtime came, she headed for the on-site cafeteria, bought herself a cobb salad, crisp Thai wrap, and an apple juice instead of having lunch outside. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw two of her friends whom she rarely spoke to when she got the job as Lucas’ assistant huddled at a nearby table. The two women were her friends from the university who were also offered a permanent job at Carmichaels after their internship.
“Hi, Phyllis, Wynona,” Harper greeted and took the empty chair at the table where the women were almost halfway through their lunches.
Phyllis and Wynona just briefly smiled and nodded at her.
“I heard Mira begged him to take her, but I heard that he refused because he has another woman waiting for her in Shanghai,” the woman with flat-ironed brown hair stated, oblivious to the fact that Harper was sitting at the table with them.
Harper cleared her throat, and then the other woman with side-swept short bangs grinning at her as though nothing had happened. "Hi, Harper! How was the charity event last week? Had a blast?"
She shook her head. "I went home early."
It was true. Right after she escaped Alex’s room, she looked for Lucas and told her boss she was suddenly down with a fever. With her face still flushed, Lucas had allowed her without further questions.
"Ugh, that sucks. I’d love to go to social events like charity events and whatever," side-swept woman said. “I envy you for being close friends with Lucas. Wynona had a huge crush on Lucas. Did you know that?” she asked.
The other woman with the flat-ironed hair made a face. “That was like way back in college.” She turned to Harper. “And did you know that Phyllis used to fantasize about Alexander?”
“Alex?”
“Duh.”
Phyllis, the side-swept hair, blushed. “He is insanely gorgeous, so why not?”
Harper smiled. “Then you should envy Mira.”
“She’s a slut. Okay? A lot of people in the office are saying that she only got the job because she gives Alex the best oral ever!”
Harper almost joked on her salad.
“Are you okay?” Wynona asked, squeezing some Purel onto her hands.
Phyllis giggled. “Didn’t you ever give your boyfriend some earth-shattering BJ, Harper?”
“I haven’t, and I don’t have a boyfriend.” Harper shyly adjusted her glasses and continued munching on her salad.
“Oh, that’s right! We haven’t really talked much after graduation. So we don’t really know what’s been going on with your life right now. It’s funny because we work for the same mega-company,” Phyllis said and sipped at her iced Coke.”
Harper nodded. “I guess we’ve been very busy. And you guys work on the other floor, so…”
“Yeah, you’re right about that.”
Wynona’s eyes lit up. “Hey, why don’t you catch up with us? We’re going with some friends from work later after work.”
“Where?”
“The Hanz.”
Harper gave it a thought for a moment, then said, “I’ll let you know later.”
“Okay, do you have our number?” Phyllis asked.
“It’s okay. I have a list of everyone’s extension number.”
“Cool!” Wynona and Phyllis said in unison.
* * *
Harper watched as a pair of hands from across the table poured another Tequilla into Luca’s shot glass. She knew Lucas could hold his alcohol just fine, so she couldn’t be bothered with how many drinks her boss would have that night.
Lucas down the shot in one gulp and placed the shot glass back on the table. Phyllis, Wynona, and other co-workers seated with them let out loud cheers.
“Thanks again for inviting me, Harper. I had never been this swamped with work before, and I seriously needed a drink.”
“That’s so awesome, Lucas!” Wynona, seated on Luca’s left, gave him a soft pat on the shoulder.
Harper, who was on Lucas’ right, noticed right away, and her jaws slightly clenched.
“Thanks again for inviting me, Harper. I had never been this swamped with work before, and I seriously needed a drink,” Lucas told her.
She quickly smiled. “I think we all deserve to breathe once in a while.”
Lucas sighed, then glanced at her. “How are the candidates?”
“I have scheduled six interviews for you on Wednesday. They all have amazing backgrounds.”
“Just six?”
Harper smiled at the sarcasm implied in his voice. “From the first batch.”
“Alright, hold on, how many batches will there be?”
She shrugged. “I haven’t really finalized that yet. So far, I have three. Six qualified and outstanding candidates from each batch.”
“Why?”
“You deserve someone really good to work for you, Lucas. I want the best for you.”
“But I want you.”
Harper instantly blushed then rolled her eyes. “Quit playing with me. You won’t change my mind. I have already secured myself a couple of interviews too.”
“That stinks!”
She grinned. Then Lucas’ eyes lingered on her lips for a moment.
“It’s your turn to drink the stress away, Harper!” Phyllis chided while already starting to pour another shot into Harper’s shot glass.
“Hey, pour some for me, too!” A guy in a decent suit and tie called out in an intentionally loud and whiny voice. “Every day is a stressful day in the accounting department.”
“Here you go, Simon!” Phyllis did, laughing.
“To a stress-free life!” Harper raised her shot before downing the tequila with a wince.
They continued with their shots and emptied two bottles of Tequila in just an hour. Then Phyllis left their table to flirt with the cute bartender, and when Wynona could no longer keep up with Lucas’ boring talk about corporate, she too left their table and coaxed Harper to go with her and meet her other friends outside work.
Lucas soon left their table too and sat by the bar, leaving the rest of their co-workers with another bottle of Tequila to drown their stress. He started ordering his usual drink, rum and coke. By the time he was on his third glass, Harper had joined him.
Harper, being a lightweight, found standing on her own to be slightly tricky.
Lucas placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a slight shake. “Are you okay? How many drinks have you had?” he asked, getting a better hold around his assistance's waist.
Harper stumbled forward, slamming into the barstool. She gave a weak nod, accompanied by a soft hum. Her cheeks were a bright shade of pink. “Wynona ordered the drinks for me because, you know, and she knows, that I’m more of a coffee girl than an alcoholic girl.”
“Alright! I know you’re a toughie, Harper,” he patted her on the back, taking the effort to keep his hand from lingering there as he would have liked. “But I think you’ve had enough. No more drinks for you,” he said, helping her lean against the bar.
Scrunching up her face, Harper looked up at him. “Look, I’m not really drunk yet, but I am a hundred percent positive that I am no longer capable of driving safely in this state.”
“We’ll both take an Uber. I’d a few drinks too.”
She smiled lovingly at her boss. “Aw! How responsible. No wonder I really like you.” She waved her hand and almost tipped over.
Lucas stood up and got his arm back around her, and tried to move her toward the door. “Come on. It’s time for you, little miss, to head home.”
She shook her head. “But we’re still drinking stresh away. I still feel streshed out.”
“We can go drinking again this weekend.” Lucas couldn’t help but smile at how Harper tried to adjust the glasses on her nose bridge.
“Well, I am streshed out because of that cretin! Alex will pay for all…” Pushing away from the bar and Lucas, she took a couple of steps then almost fell forward.
“Harper!” Lucas rushed to her and scooped her into his arms. He let her wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning her head on his shoulder as they said goodbye to their co-workers, who were too drunk to react to Harper’s state.
They stepped out into the cold night air, and Lucas quickly carried the Harper to a nearby bench sat her down while he called for an Uber. And in less than a few minutes, a black SUV pulled in front of them.
Harper had already fallen asleep on the drive home. Lucas kept quiet and smiled whenever he saw Harper’s reflection, cuddled next to him, in the car’s window. When they arrived, he paid the Uber, grabbed Harper’s bag, then slipped his arms under her, and lifted her. Harper moaned and slipped her arms around his neck, nuzzling her face into his skin.
“Holy fuck!” Kendal exclaimed when she opened the door for them. “What happened to her?”
“Had a little drink after work,” Lucas said as he carried Harper to her bedroom.
“Little? That woman looks dead to me!” Kendal laughed. “Well, make sure she doesn’t puke on her bed. And don’t forget to lock the door on your way out if you don’t have any plans on sleeping with her.”
“What? Why would I―never mind.”
“I’ll just put my headphone on, just in case.” Kendal grinned and waved him goodnight, then went back to her bedroom.
Lucas shook his head. He placed Harper’s bag on the floor, and as he laid her onto the bed, her assistance’s arms tightened around his neck.
"Harper, let go," he said quietly, trying to get her to remove her arms around his neck.
“Ah-uh.” Harper shook her head slowly.
Lucas smiled, then Harper grabbed him by the front of his shirt, and before he could think better of what he should do, Harper kissed him. The kiss started soft and gentle, then immediately became sloppy. He could feel her tongue trying to find the entrance to his mouth and as soon as he granted it entry, the kiss became rougher and tasted like Tequila, lemon, coke, and something sweet that Lucas couldn’t seem to point his finger as to what.
When he heard Harper moaned into his mouth, he let himself kiss her back and took full control of the kiss for a moment until he felt Harper’s arms relaxed, slipping from around his neck. He cupped her face between his hands, lightly sucking on her lower lip before pulling himself back.
“Why’d…stop? Don’t…want…me?” Harper moaned again, with her eyes still closed, then a small smile formed on her lips.
“Oh, Harper,” Lucas swallowed, staring at her. Then he immediately stood up, suddenly disgusted with himself. Every movement Harper made became more apparent just how drunk she was, and he had no intention of taking advantage of an intoxicated woman.
He looked at her for a moment before carefully pulling off her shoes and tucking her in.
“You have no idea how bad I want you right now.” He sighed. “But this is not right.” Brushing a stray hair from Harper’s face, he removed her eyeglasses, leaned over, and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. He placed her eyeglasses on the bedside table, and the second he heard Harper’s snore, he was out of the bedroom, silently closing the door behind him and locking the front door as he went.