Chapter 1

Ana let out a sigh as she got back from her break. She had barely sat in her cubicle when she heard, “Are you going to cover for me today?”

It sounded like a question but there was no doubt that it was an affirmation, especially if it was coming from Tasha. Tasha was one of her coworkers and a terrible pain in the ass. She knew that Ana was the type to shy away from attention so she would put the latter on the spot so as to get the latter to agree to whatever she had to say.

Ana leaned back into her chair and let out a sigh. She knew she was going to say no and she was already dreading the answer that Tasha was going to give her. It wasn’t that Ana was scared of this one—she just hated awkward situations like this one.

There was a collective gasp when Ana let out no you would almost have thought that they were in a live action play. Ana rolled her eyes subtly, waiting for whatever venom Tasha was about to spit.

“What did you just say?” Tasha asked, tilting her head to the side, silently telling Ana to revise her statement.

Ana let out another sigh. She hated this and she hated how much she had let Tasha walk all over her. It was definitely going to be the last of things she ever let happen.

“I said, no I won’t cover for you today.”

That response felt like a victory to her. She had never said an outright no like that to Tasha. There was shock written all over the latter’s face and without having to look around, Ana already knew that the entire office was listening to their conversation. It got her annoyed but there was truly nothing she could do to stop them.

There was a look of disbelief of Tasha’s face when she said, “Ana, tell me you’re joking. Everybody knows that Pence and I go on a date every Friday and today is Friday. You can’t do this to me.”

The “Pence” in question was Tasha’s billionaire boyfriend who supposedly spoiled her with gifts and trips to the most exotic places in the world. But any sane person in the office knew it was nothing but a lie, just like all the others Tasha had told to remain the center of attraction. It was so weird that she behaved like she was in high school.

Ana really didn’t care about all of what Tasha was saying so she zoned her out, and when the latter stopped speaking, she looked up at her finally.

“There’s nothing I can do Tasha. I have plans today.” This was said with a careless shrug. Ana didn’t know where the confidence had come from but she was not complaining. She had never stood up for herself in this office, especially not in front of Tasha so it was a relief to finally do so.

“You have plans? So you got a life on the day of my date? Convenient.”

That hurt Ana in a way she couldn’t explain and she decided not to let the jab at her and her social life just slide like that.

“You’re being annoying at this point, Tasha. Go look for someone else who will agree to fill in for you and your imaginary billionaire boyfriend and stop bothering me.”

Once again, there was a collective gasp. Nobody had ever imagined that Ana would retort like that, and to Tasha of all people. There was no doubt that there was a furious look on Tasha’s face but Ana didn’t care. She had been a “doormat” simply because she had wanted to avoid trouble and attention but it had ended. Tasha was no longer going to walk all over her.

Ana looked up just in time to see Tasha flip her hair and move away from the cubicle. It was shocking that she had said anything but Ana knew that it was not the end of this episode. But she didn’t care. She had an article to finish, and it wasn’t Tasha or all the stupid whispers about how she had finally grown a pair that were going to make her stop work.

She was already used to these people being in her business anyways. But the more it went on, the more aggravated she got. Maybe one day, she was going to explode in front of everyone. The day was coming.

***

“So what you’re trying to tell me is that you made a fool out of her in front of your office?” was the first question Landon asked Ana. He had called her a little while before so they could talk about her day and that was his response to Ana telling him about the drama at her office that day.

“I didn’t even mean to! But this girl annoyed the fuck out of me. She said I had no life and stuff. And it annoyed me. The look on her face when I told her Pence was imaginary was legendary, oh my God. I have no idea where I picked the courage from. Please I need a fake identity Landon, I’m sure she’s already planning on how to kill me.”

“I didn’t ask you to put yourself in this situation, you got yourself into it. Plus, it would be fun seeing Tasha kill you with her death glares,” Landon said, laughing.

Ana rolled her eyes but did not say anything. Then she put her phone down so she could apply her fake lashes, leaving Landon hanging without meaning to.

“Are you mad at what I said?” Landon asked. It was obvious that he was worried.

“I’m not. I just put my phone down to get ready,” Ana said then she bit her lip. She had not meant to let that last bit slip out. Landon was the most overprotective person she had in her life and she knew he would want to know where she was going.

“Get ready? Where are the hell are you going to without letting me know and at ten thirty pm?” Landon asked.

“Bye Landon. Love you,” Ana said, then she turned the call off. Landon was, as weird as it sounded, the father figure in her life. And he acted just like she imagined a dad would. Overprotective and honestly, it was very stifling at times. She knew he loved her. But she wanted freedom sometimes. Especially since she was almost always at work.

Okay, now it was time to make sure that everything was perfect. Ana scrutinized her makeup until she was sure it looked amazing. Then she stared at herself in the full length mirror, then bent over and did a tentative whine to make sure that her dress wouldn’t ride up if she wanted to grind on someone (yup, that was part of the plan).

Everything was perfect so Ana called an Uber to Nöje, one of the biggest and most popular clubs in the city and one of the most expensive as well. Whoever said money didn’t buy happiness clearly didn’t have enough money.

The ride to Nöje was a long one, so Ana slept off for a while until her driver woke her up. With a thank you, she stepped out of the car and headed towards the line at the entrance. Of course it was a long line. But it helped that Ana had been the one to interview the bouncer for an article that was published in their magazine, so after a quick talk, she was let in.

It was just as she had expected and even more. The flashing lights were blinding, and if she was being honest, Ana wanted to be blinded. She went towards the bar, because she knew without a little bit of alcohol in her, she would not be able to do anything out of her comfort zone.

The first thing she ordered was a gin and tonic. She sipped on it while watching whatever was going on on the dance floor, until someone whistled directly behind her. Ana turned her head towards him and she had to admit that she was impressed. Even with the lights of the club, she could see that he was almost perfect. He was taller than her, even with her heels on and the smirk playing around his lips was attractive.

“Can I get you a drink, beautiful?” he asked, with that same smirk on his face. Ana felt her face heat up and she nodded. She couldn’t look away from the man even when he signaled the bartender to double her order. She knew she should be watching so that nothing was slipped in her drink. But this man was a way more interesting sight.

The only time Ana looked away from the man was when the bartender brought her drink. She downed it in seconds then turned and looked at the man who also had a drink in his hand.

He laughed, then did same as her; downed the remainder of his drink in a matter of seconds. About an hour and three rounds of drinks lated, both of them were tipsy and were on the dance floor. It was almost voyeuristic to look at them with the way they were dancing so provocatively. It seemed like sex… almost.

It made Ana wonder how the real thing would be… and she blushed at her own thoughts. She wasn’t going to go home with this man. She didn’t know him. She couldn’t go home with a stranger and she was doing a piss poor job of convincing herself. She knew if the stranger offered for her to go home with him, she would accept. And she probably wouldn’t regret it.

As if after some kind of silent accord, both of them walked to the bar when the song they were dancing to was switched. They stared at each other and the chemistry between them was honestly suffocating.

“Do you come here often?” Ana asked, with what she assumed was seductive stance. But all it did was make the man laugh.

Ana laughed along with him. She was drunk enough to make fun of herself and not care about embarrassing herself in front of this hot man.

“Want to leave?” He finally asked the question Ana had been waiting for and her nod was almost immediate. She watched as he pulled his phone out to text someone.

His movements were just as clumsy as hers, so she wondered how he was able to type whatever he was typing on his phone. She decided not to ask. After all, the only thing that interested her was where they were going and how quick they were going to get there. After keeping his phone away, Ana’s stranger held his hand out to her. She took it with little to no hesitation then they walked out together. It was a little chilly and it didn’t even cross Ana’s mind to ask what they were doing outside.

A car stopped in front of them a few minutes later and a middle aged man in a suit came out to open the door for them. Ana looked at her stranger and wondered who he was that he had people opening doors for him. But all rational thought flew out of the window quite literally when both of them were sitting in the car.

He placed his hand on her cheek and kissed her softly. Ana resounded eagerly and let out a small mewl of dissatisfaction when he pulled away. Then all of a sudden, her stranger was holding a small bottle of whiskey in his hand and two shot glasses. He poured the whiskey into the glasses and extended one to her. Ana drank it disgustingly fast, and waited for the man to be done with his.

It was Ana who made the first move this time around. She put the shot glass away then she straddled the man as steadily as she could, then looked at him through her lashes in an unintentional sultry look. Her stranger’s hands went straight to her waist and gripped it tight as she kissed him.

He quickly took control of the kiss, deepened it and pulled her closer to him, molding their bodies together. Ana moaned into the kiss and found herself grinding on him unconsciously. She could feel his erection pointing quite literally at her panty covered pussy and it was making her wet.

She pulled away from the kiss this time, out of breath. Ana leaned on his chest to catch her breath and let out a small giggle. She heard her stranger let out an answering chuckle and she looked up at him.

“Where are we going?” she finally thought to ask.

She tried to wriggle herself out of his grasp, but his grip was firm and it was obvious he didn’t want to let her go.

“We’re going to my place,” the man said. Then he went straight to Ana’s neck and kissed it, trying to get to her soft spot.

Ana let out a small moan when he finally found it. With a triumphant grin, the man laved the spot with kisses and suckles. Ana’s hands found themselves on seat as she tried to keep herself upright.

The guy's hands left her waist and trailed up slowly to her boobs. He squeezed them softly and Ana moaned, not caring who was hearing.

Their lips met again in a clash of passion. Ana's hands were no longer on the stranger's neck. They were now in his hair, pulling with the same intensity she was feeling.

"We're here sir," was what made them scramble away from each other. They looked at each other and laughed weirdly.

The stranger got out of the car and held his hand out for an unstable Ana. She took his hand and followed him. The building looked really nice, but that was not Ana's concern at the moment. All she wanted in the moment was to reach the stranger's apartment fast enough so they could finish what they had started.

They were holding each other's hands and Ana giggled when she almost fell with her heels on. She slipped them off, and as she was about to kiss the stranger, someone got into the elevator.

She was drunk, yes. But it was literally a pain to stop herself from jumping all over the stranger and ravaging the fuck out of him. And apparently he was thinking the same thing because he put his hand on her ass and squeezed.

Both of them laughed, making the man in front of them turn back and shoot them a strange look. They paid him no mind.

Soon, he went off. Strangely enough, Ana and her stranger kept their hands to themselves, preferring to exchange fierce and needy looks. The space between them was not a lot. But it felt like a million miles when all they were itching to do was to tear each other's clothes off.

As soon as the elevator stopped at the penthouse, it was like a dam had burst. Both of them fell on each other, kissing like there was no tomorrow. At that point, Ana knew she was going to be sore the next day. But she didn't even mind. It was going to be worth it. Hopefully.