Sophia’s POV:
I’ve got to be the dumbest person ever. How could I let Ivan touch me again after everything that’s happened in the last few days?
I tried my best to avoid his gaze, fighting back tears as I did.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, confusion etched on his face.
That puzzled expression almost made me feel bad. Almost. But no, this is Ivan we are talking about.
I subtly rubbed my nose, attempting to hide the fact that I was on the verge of tears. “Nothing, please just leave,” I pleaded. Why couldn’t he see that I was embarrassed and upset?
He stood there looking at me with an unreadable expression, my eyes dropped to the bulge in his trousers, and my cheeks instantly felt hot so I turned my back to him.
I slipped my gown back on. I groaned when I saw the state of my pantyhose, it was shredded so I picked them up and threw them in the trash can, I picked up my panties and put them inside my bag.
“Did I hurt you? Are you okay?” Ivan asked warily, his voice dripping with concern.
My back stiffened and I locked my knees in place to keep me from turning around to look at him. I thought he’d take the hint and leave after I’d practically begged him to.
I didn’t want him to see how embarrassed I was, but the memory of how I’d literally thrown myself at him earlier made me cringe. He must think I have no self-control.
I let out a sigh. “Ivan, I’m fine. You can go, please. We have to leave work anyway, it’s past 5 pm,” I said, hoping he’d finally get the message.
There was a moment of silence before large hands wheeled me around and I was met with Ivan’s eyes, they looked softer than they usually were.
My stomach flip-flopped and tightened. He was so close, so close I could count his eyelashes.
“I’m sorry if I hurt you,” He said sincerely.
I shook my head. “No, you didn’t. I just want you to leave. We shouldn’t have done this. I told you the last time we did this.” I moved away from him. “You took what I’ve always wanted for years, we can’t possibly be friends or anything, surely you are not that cruel.”
Something resembling the look of hurt flashed on his face and left as quickly as it had come. He nodded stiffly and left without saying a word.
I sagged back against my desk, struggling to catch my breath. Ivan had a way of leaving me breathless, in more ways than one, he does things to me that no one else does, and that terrifies and excites me.
Dismissing those thoughts, I arranged my things, placed the roses Harry sent me in a vase, and left the office.
Once home, I freshened up and got things ready for our sleepover and in an hour or two Nick and Daisy were at my doorstep.
I explained to Nick what happened, and why Ivan was the new chairman. They both tried to sympathize with me, but I was fine. Really. I mean it hurts that I lost what I’d worked hard for but I wasn’t thinking about killing myself or something. But I was grateful for them, they’ve always had my back, and I couldn’t ask for anything else.
But I dare not tell them what went down with Ivan earlier. Especially not Daisy; she’d have my head.
The rest of the night was filled with laughter, watching movies, eating snacks while drinking beer and soon it was time for bed.
THE NEXT MORNING
“My head is killing me,” Daisy complained, her bare feet slapping against the floor as she joined me in the kitchen. I pushed a steaming mug of coffee and a bottle of pain pills her way while I drank from my ceramic cup.
I took in her appearance, her brown hair was all over her face, and heavy bags dragged below her eyes, and her face looked swollen. “Did you sleep at all?” I asked.
She took a sip from her coffee and tossed the pills in her mouth. “Not a wink,” She said wearily. “I had urgent work to complete since I wasted the whole of yesterday. The client was on my arse and being a bitch.”
I chuckled. “Well if you weren’t an alcoholic that would have been avoided.”
She smacks my arm. “Hey! I was only drinking to support you, can’t have you wallowing in your misery alone. This is the ‘thank you’ I get?” She pouts.
“Yea, keep telling yourself that. You drank twice the drinks I took and last night you finished the beers.”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine, you win. I’m an alcoholic, but that is not a crime now, is it?”
“It is when you don’t attend to your clients on time and then you call them bitches,” I laughed.
She snorts, spilling her coffee a little. “Don’t worry, I never say that to their faces.” She reaches for a napkin to clean the spilt coffee.
She set her mug down, hugging it between her palms. “So… how does it feel working with Ivan? How do you handle it?”
My shoulders stiffened as flashes of passionate kisses assaulted me, memories of me with Ivan came flooding in, and I tried really hard to not squirm with the way Daisy was watching me. I cut the memory off, compartmentalizing the guilt and embarrassment it summoned.
Luckily, my body didn’t bear any love bites except my breasts which were a little red and still stung from how hard he’d hit them. Heat pooled at my core in the memory.
“Soph? Is it really that bad?” Daisy asked with concern.
“W-what?” I stuttered as my brain struggled to catch up with the conversation.
She eyes me. “You spaced out there for a minute.”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” I said simply.
“Morning!” Nick said cheerfully. Seriously, who’s that happy in the morning? Well, I’m grateful for his perfect timing, got me out of the topic I really didn’t want to address.
“It is way too early for you to be so loud Nick,” Daisy groaned.
He rolled his eyes at her.
“Hey.” I handed him a mug of coffee too.
“Thanks, sweetie, you’re the best.” He placed a kiss on my cheek. “So, what are we doing today?” He asked, blowing into his coffee, reminding me of my own. “It’s Saturday. I don’t have any plans and I don’t want to go home yet.”
“Yeah, me too! I have zero plans,” Daisy jumped in. She turned to Nick. “Maybe we could go try out that place you talked about.”
“Uh… well, I have a date,” I blurted out, and they both turned to look at me.
“With whom?” Nick asked. “My last date was a disaster, I get PTSD just thinking about it,” He said dramatically.
Daisy scoffed and rolled her eyes at him. “It wasn’t that bad, you’re being dramatic.”
I haven’t been hanging out with both of them a lot lately, so I didn’t know what had happened with his last date, I guess I’ll ask him about it later.
“So?” Daisy probed.
“Harry, he asked yesterday,” I said simply.
The silence in the room stretched for a while as they both stared at me. I knew what they were thinking and they were right.
“Look, I planned to let him know about it today. I swear,” I explained.
Daisy dropped her mug and took my hands in hers. “Sophia, I already told you I wouldn’t put pressure on you anymore…but it is so clear he likes you. Can you like him back? Since it’s been so difficult for you to tell him you don’t want to spend a lifetime with him.”
“I… I tried. I’m not even attracted to him,” I whispered. Instead, I was attracted to who I was supposed to run away from.
“That’s fucked up,” Nick muttered.
“I’ll solve this, just trust me,” I said firmly.
“Alright, let’s talk about something else,” Nick said, easing the tension in the room.
I let out a sigh of relief, grateful for his intervention. Daisy said nothing as she cast one last look at my way. She had nothing to worry about anyway, I was going to solve this issue.
Changing the topic. “So, Nick, what happened with your last date,” I asked, leaning forward on the counter. “Should I be worried you told Daisy about it but not me?” I pretended to be offended.
Nick scrunched up his face in disgust. “Me? Pick Daisy over you? Never!” That earned him a slap to the back of his head from Daisy.
“Hey!” He protested.
She batted her lashes and smiled innocently at him.
“Well,” he continued. “Let’s just say it didn’t go as planned,” He admitted. “I met a guy online and we’ve been talking for almost a month, so I thought he was into me. Long story short, it turned out he was bi-curious. With a GIRLFRIEND. She caused a scene, I’d never been so embarrassed.”
I let out a sympathetic groan. “Ugh, that’s the worst.”
“Yea, tell me about it,” Nick grumbled, taking a long sip of his coffee. “I’m starting to think I have terrible luck with men.”
I reached out and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry Nick, you’ll find your person. You’re literally the sweetest person ever.”
He managed a smile. “Well he’d better find me fast before I give up,” he joked. “But thank you, sweetheart.”
“Really?” Daisy scoffs. “You are not going to tell her about the hottie who acted as a knight in shining armour?”
Nick groaned. “Can you drop it? I didn’t get his name or number. I probably will never see him again.”
“What happened?” I asked, my curiosity piqued.
“Long story short, while the bitch went on shouting about how I was trying to ‘make’ her boyfriend gay, a handsome stranger pretended to be my boyfriend and made my date and his girlfriend look stupid,” He explained.
“Aww, that’s so sweet. It’s a shame you didn’t get his number.”
He frowned.”I know right? But he didn’t seem like he was interested in men so I didn’t push further.”
Daisy groaned. “Like I said before, you could have tried.”
I gave him a sympathetic look.
“Enough about me.” He waved us off. “I’m in the mood for pancakes and chocolates. Soph, you still have the ingredients right?” He asked.
“Sure, I just restocked,” I moved to the kitchen cabinets and pulled out a bag of oat flour. “We could make doughnuts too.”
“Alright, let’s get to work,” He said, his eyes lighting up with enthusiasm.
Daisy chuckled at his eagerness. “You always act like a child around pancakes and chocolates.”
He rolled his eyes. “I mean, pancakes paired with chocolates are superior.”
“Agreed,” I chimed in.
Soon we moved together, preparing the ingredients for our pancakes and doughnuts. We talked, laughed and teased each other-well more like Daisy, teasing Nick as usual. It felt like we were kids again enjoying each other’s company.
My phone chimed and I pulled it out of my pocket. There was a notification for a text message and I opened it.
Harry: Hi.
Harry: So… I’ve arranged everything. See you at 6 pm?
I replied to his text.
Me: Sure, 6 pm sounds great.
Harry: Can’t wait to see you!