Pan clattered on the floor when it slipped from someone's hold. Although there was no content in it, I drummed near my feet before halting its jarring dance. The reverie I was in was broken.

"Careful." Linda droned over someone before hanging the fallen pan back to the metal rod that remained hung other pots and pans.

"Let's go." She tapped at my shoulder, instructing me to take a break for lunch.

My heart thrummed onto my ribs vigorously as I sat near an empty seat at the lunch table. Linda eyed me the whole time, carrying a smirk that rose to the corner of her eyes. When the chair beside me was pulled and the warm musky scent wafted into my bloodstreams, my eyes fluttered momentarily. I was tossed back to the memories of the times I'd spent with Philip, who sat beside me.

"Smells divine." Philip leaned over and whispered and the air he breathed out with those words were a clear indication of his talk not being about food.

"You need to keep it low." I bit the insides of my cheeks, mocking him for riling me up at the workplace.

When the crowd departed after taking their share of food, Philip caught my hand in a blink of an eye under the table and leaned. He tactfully dropped his fork, pretending to pick it up and kissed my knuckle on his way up.

My internal organs rumbled and danced to the show tunes I'd heard growing up. It was bliss, I was floating in, controlling my heart from flying away. Every look or lean from Philip would set my senses to stand in attention. Although a tease, he'd play me so well that it would be difficult for me to hold onto my inhibitions.

After a long drawn lunch where Philip decided it would be fun to run his arm near to my side, getting a laugh when his grazing arm would make me jolt upright, he straightened from his chair.

"Daisy, can you meet me back at my office?" His question, a harmless one was filled with tricks he had up his sleeves.

Linda winked at me upon hearing it. She was the only other being besides John and Sasha who knew about what we were doing for the past few days. I was practically living in Philip's home and every time I made up my mind to go back to my place, he would somehow convince me otherwise.

With me trailing behind him into his office door, anticipation drove up to my chest, radiating as warmth over my skin and bones. With Philip, with what we were doing, everything was thrilling. It was a new wave of excitement I found whenever I was with him.

Behind the closed door, he straddled me over his desk and widened my legs, almost pulling me over his body as he dipped his lips to intertwine with mine. For the hundredth time, I was tasting him and it was just as delicious and intoxicating as the first time. My fingers rolled into his hair and I deepened my hold over his mouth. Our play for dominance reached a new level when his hand slid underneath my shirt.

Goosebumps ran over my skin as I nested my head over his shoulder while his hand ran over my back, clearing the attire off its path as it rose. My eyes closed with the unpredictability of what could happen next.

"I can't seem to control myself around you," he whispered into my ear before nipping at my earlobe.

"Philip." Words floated out of me, a low rumbling growl from behind my throat. I was ready to be plundered on his table if that's what he wanted. The waves of pleasure that crashed inside me were hard to control and if I had to wait till evening before I could be back in his hold, I would be driven mad.

"Darling," he cupped my face, peppering it with soft kisses. "Let me take you out on a date."

"Why?" By now it was clear that the need between my legs was far higher than the one in my belly.

Ignoring my words, Philip sighed and kissed the tip of my nose. Like some remote-controlled being, the crest and troughs of pleasure waved and assaults, all fell calm when he conducted this cute experiment. I was transported back to being the girl who wanted Philip near her, the girl who craved his attention and who wished every night for him to be her.

When that Daisy took over, she evaluated the damage done by the one word. Why.

"Why do you want to go on a date? We already had our first date!" I was referring to the chance meet at coffee which turned out to be Philip's desperate attempt to salvage his decision of letting Steve go out with me.

"That was not a date for either of us." He pulled me over his lap, settling in his chair, reclining. In the middle of his office room and in the middle of my dinner prep, I was in his hold, hoping to never part. "I want to take you out on a proper date, Daiz. Swoon you and everything."

"I am already swooning." I nuzzling my way into the crook of his neck like a rabbit burrowing its way into a hole. I was in my comfort place. There was nothing that could get me to feel safer than in the hold of the man whom I loved dearly.

"It's my wish," he placed his lips over the crown of my head, inhaling my scent. "Won't you fulfil my wish, darling?"

Ahh, darling. That word was my kryptonite. Of all the cliched words on this planet, Philip chose the simplest reference for me, yet it had the effect of an intoxicant whenever I heard it.

"Yes, sir. Your wish is my command." I saluted in the air and he ran his finger over the back of my neck, tickling.

I yelped, jumping off his embrace and moved back. "Just for that, no more hugs for you."

"Aww, you break my heart. Come back."

Although the invitation was the most tempting, I was reminded of another obligation that ran in the kitchen. Peppering Philip's face with kisses, I ran out. Inside the kitchen, nobody seemed to notice my absence. It was Linda, who scanned me thoroughly when I walked back.

"Your apron," she pointed to the overturned apron which now protected my back. When I readjusted it, she chuckled softly. "Someone is busy."

I tossed a potato peel at her, annoyed. How was I supposed to convince my friend that her desperate roommate didn't get laid in all her time at Philip's place. All the time we were there, we would chatter and he would tell me about his past but when it came to doing something in furtherance of what could have been every other night, Philip could deviate in a very cunning manner.

I was sure if he kept this up, it wouldn't be long before I burst into flames. After all, a girl could hold on only till a certain limit.

After the long dinner rush, Marcy called us all around the table, instructing for tomorrow's tasks and dishes beforehand. Through the glass pane that separated the room we gathered in, I saw Philip on the other end.

Most of Marcy's words floated above my head while she instructed. My eyes were glued to my man who was talking to some girl. When her face came to my view, I realized it was her, the one who accompanied Philip to the gala. His ex-girlfriend.

She leaned over, tossing her blonde locks over her shoulder, whispered something to Philip. He smiled as she slid her hand into his before they walked out.

My heart plunged into a deep dark pit. Not that I doubted Philip for a second in my life, it was his ex-girlfriend, whose presence induced gut-wrenching thoughts to swirl up.

After Marcy's dictation, all of which was recorded on my phone, we all left. Linda conducted her usual business, smoking her lungs away when my phone chimed up. Philip's name was displayed in front of the background photo of ours.

**Message**

Darling,

A friend needs my help, so I'll be late in arriving home.

Stay with Linda.

Talk soon...

**

No love salutation, no take care. No nothings.

The text seemed so formal in the background of my phone's wallpaper, of Philip and me making funny faces.

"Problem?" Linda asked, stubbing her cigarette bud and exhaling the last puff into the night.

"Seems like Philip is busy with some friend so I'll be coming home."

"Great, I missed you. It felt like I was staying alone, all over again." Linda was elated but I wasn't. My mind kept replaying the girl's face and her gestures with Philip. She wasn't a friend. She was an ex. And although Philip and I talked about almost everything, he still didn't touch the topic of his past with his girlfriend.

Doubts had a troublesome relationship with me. They tend to reveal themselves whenever I was at my lowest and right on cue, it swam back.

Was I someone Philip was hiding from his friends? His ex?

~

Dearies

I hope you like this chapter. Please do vote and comment and let me know your thoughts.

Do you really think, Philip is hiding things about Daisy from his ex?

Let me know :)