''Heyyyy, morning Athena! how are you today?'' Nancy comes chirping into my office on Friday morning. 

It's been two days now since my 'breakup' with Leo. He hasn't even called or texted me and of course I haven't either, I'm too proud to do that. So I did what every broken-hearted person would do.I decided to bury myself in my work, ignoring everything and everyone, including Theo and currently Nancy.

''Morning,'' I reply, not looking up from the stack of papers I was going through.

''I have been observing you since yesterday Athena, what's wrong, you seem.... off,'' she says, worry laced in her voice.

''I'm okay, okay? just stressed out a bit, do you mind? I'd really like to be alone right now!'' I tell her, trying not to sound rude.

''Umm...yeah sure okay. Just to let you know, I'll make sure I've wrapped up all my work by noon since I'm leaving for my parents' home.''

''Yeah......okay,'' I wave my hand signaling her to leave and that this conversation is over.

I have been checking my phone constantly for the last 24 hours, apart from Charles sending me memes, my phone's pretty dry. I sigh heavily and place my head in my hands, my mind automatically replaying the scene at the park.

After Leo left me alone on the bench, I sat there for at least two hours, crying my heart out. Never ever have I been through a break up before, never ever have I had my heart broken. So this is what it feels like. I felt like hiding in a corner and never leaving it. If it hadn't been for my wolf, I would have actually done that.

The mere thought of that day brings tears to my eyes and I quickly wipe them away before anyone sees me. I get up from my seat and walk to the large windows, looking out at the city, anger rushes through me. 

I hear a crack followed by the smell of blood.

I look down and notice blood dripping from my hand onto the floor. I open my fist to find the broken pieces of glass sticking out of my palm. I had unknowingly crashed a paper weight that I grabbed from the table.

''Great, just another mess added to my already messed up life,'' I throw my free hand up in the air and grab a paper towel. I wrap it around my injured hand and quickly walk out of my cabin making a beeline to the private bathrooms.

I quickly put my hand under the sink to wash out the blood and start picking out the shards of glass from my palm.

I hiss in pain upon every shard that I pull out when a sudden feeling of calmness washes over me, I feel relaxed my anger starts fading away, ''What in the world....''

I wash my hand one last time and look down at it. Some of the wounds have started closing up. Got to love that fast healing process.

I leave the washroom, feeling a lot better than I did a few hours ago. I still don't understand why I'm feeling that way but i guess I was about find out to when I saw Theo outside my cabin. His eyes scanning for something or rather, someone. 

In this case, the someone being me.

I hide behind the nearest wall and watch him. He looked genuinely worried. I tuned in on his heartbeat which was beating erratically. Oh goddess! Why did he have to come? i'm so not in the mood.

''I know you're inside here Athena, I can sense you,'' he says, knowing fully well that I could hear him.

''You're hurt,'' he says and I frown in confusion. What kind of stalker shit is this?!

''I.... ummm.... I felt your pain through the...ahem...mate bond. Look just please, please let me see that you're okay and I'll leave, you don't even have to talk to me. Please Athena,'' he pleads.

I don't know if it was the mate bond making me do this or just general curiosity but I stepped out of my hiding place and made myself visible.

 ''I'm fine see, you're happy now?'' I whisper.

His neck snaps in my direction and his expression changes to one of relief. He attempts to take a step forward but I stop him. ''You can leave now,'' I say sharply and he halts. His gaze meets mine from across the office then he nods his head.

 ''Very well,'' he whispers lowly and leaves.

My gaze follows his retreating back and I have to grab on to the nearest desk to stop myself from running after him. My wolf whimpers in sadness at the sight of our mate walking away from us but I push her back. 

Wait did he say mate bond? Is that why I'm feeling what I'm feeling right now, holy crap! I need to stop this, I need to block him out. But how do I do it?

''Ms. Athena, are you okay?'' I hear a timid voice from my left. I look up to see a blonde girl looking at me worriedly. She was fairly tall and had shoulder length hair.

''Ma'am are you okay? You look...umm...here, have some water,'' she offers and walks to the nearest dispenser then hands me the glass.

''Thank you, Summer,'' I take the glass and gulp down the cold water. She smiles at me widely, mostly because she thought I wouldn't remember her name. 

''I hope you feel better, you are strong ma'am, you can get over anything, it's one of the reasons I joined this company. You're like umm....my role model,'' she says sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

A genuine smile forms on my face at her revelation. ''That really made my day, thank you Summer. I wish you all the best,'' I pat her back and walk towards my cabin.

''Athena hey, the hot guy who came with Charles the other day was here, he was looking for someone I guess. You have any idea about it?''

''Don't know, don't care,'' I reply and walk past her desk. 

''Okay.... umm, so hey...'' she gets up and follows me. ''I've done everything I needed to do and its almost noon, mind if I leave?''

''Yeah, sure, you can go.''

''Cool, thanks, so I'll see you Monday,'' Nancy squeals in excitement. I give her a small smile in return. ''Pass my regards to your parents.''

''I sure will. Ohh one more thing before I leave,'' she says then pauses, which makes me look up from my laptop, ''alcohol helps,'' she winks and walks out.

I spend the rest of the afternoon on the phone with the representative from the Grey group, going through the details of the clothing line, the samples, the photo-shoot, which will now take place a month later. It's four o'clock and I'm about to leave when my phone rings, ''Hello?''

''Hello, good evening, am I speaking to Ms. Athena Robinson?'' The voice, which is definitely female says from the other side.

''Yes, this is she,'' I respond.

"Ms. Robinson, I'm calling from the organization committee of the Fashion awards that are taking place a week from now. My name is Jennifer and I'm just doing a follow up on whether you received our invite for showcasing some of your hit designs at the show?'' she asks.

''I'm sorry, please come again? Showcasing my designs? I'm afraid I've received no such invite. I only have the invitation card for attendance, '' I reply shocked at why I have no clue of this.

''Well this is weird, our records show that the invite was collected.''

''Do your records have the name of person who collected it?'' I ask her. 

''Hang on a minute while I check please,'' she replies.

''Oh yes, here it is. It says here that it was collected by a 'Charles Morgan','' she reads out. 

Charles? why would Charles collect an invite on behalf of me and then not give it. ''Umm...Jennifer right? Could you maybe describe how this Charles person looked like?''

''Oh yeah sure, it's pretty hard to forget actually,'' she giggles, ''He had this stormy grey eyes and raven black hair that almost reached his shoulders,'' she says dreamily.

Grey eyes? Black hair? That's definitely not Charles. Who could it be then? ''Okay thanks, can you email the invite to me please. I'll make sure I have my clothes and team ready by Saturday.''

''Yes, ma'am sure. I'll email it to you right away,'' she replies then hangs up after I thank her.

''Well I guess I'm working this weekend. Great,'' I mutter to myself then walk out. 

''Can I have your attention everybody,'' I shout out at my staff and colleagues.

''We have been asked to showcase our hit designs at the fashion awards next week and due to lack of time, we will be working this weekend.''

I hear a series of groans and moans around but they stop when I shoot them all a glare. ''Look, I know some of you had plans this weekend. Heck, even I had plans, '' Lie. That's a big lie. The only plan I had was to take Nancy's advice and drown in alcohol and watch cheesy romantic movies all day.

''But we all need to work together and make sure that we have something for the big awards next week. I will be here at 08:00 am tomorrow and so should you all,'' I announce.

''Well there goes my plan to drink and stay in, ''I grumble to myself as I walk out the building. 

My eyes land on the liquor store on the corner of the street. ''Oh well, I'll be damned.''

I cross the street and head towards the store. ''Hello there, what would you like today?'' the middle aged man greets. Okay so, since I'm going for the dinner at Charles' might as well take a bottle of wine and uhhh.... I scan the aisle for something strong, ''bingo!''

''I'd like that bottle of wine, '' I point to the wine collection behind the counter, ''and these,'' I hoist up the basket containing four bottles of vodka.

The man snickers at me, ''having a party are you girly?''

''Yeah....yeah you can say that,'' I reply while fishing out my credit card. I walk out and go to my car where I put the bottles safely then drive home.

I take a quick shower as soon as I get home then walk to my wardrobe. ''It's nothing fancy so a light sweater and leggings would do,'' I tell myself and pull out a light pink sweater and black leggings. I grab my hair and do a messy bun, put on some light lipstick, a pair of nude flats and voila! I'm done.

''Okay, okay I can do this. Just ignore him, ignore the bond, ignore the sparks, ignore his beautiful brown eyes, ignore his husky voice, his amazing cheekbones, his luscious hair, his.....Oh my god! What's wrong with me! ugh, stop!!"

''If you're done, I'd like to open the door now,'' Charles chuckles from the other side of it. 

Oh no! he heard me. Shit! Shit! SHIT!!

The door cracks open to reveal Charles, grinning like a Cheshire cat. ''Don't,'' I grumble and walk in.

''Heyyy...I was not the one giving myself a pep talk out there, which took an unusual turn huh?'' he winks. ''Don't worry though, he didn't hear you, he's still in the shower.''

Oh thank the moon goddess Theo didn't hear me. Otherwise that would've been an utter embarrassment.

''So what are you making?'' I ask Charles, while following him in the kitchen. 

''Nothing fancy, just spaghetti and meatballs. You cool with it?''

''Yeah, that's totally fine,'' I reply with a small smile, trying to shrug off the feeling of uneasiness settling in the pit of my stomach. 

''Calm down Athena, he is not going to eat you,''Charles says, ''pun intended,'' he then adds with a wink.

''Oh my god!! You're disgusting Charles!'' My eyes widen in shock as I slap his arm. 

''So what do you have for me there?'' he eyes the bag in my hand.

''Oh right! I got you wine, '' I say and fish out the bottle from the bag. 

''Oh thanks and what else is in there?'' he peeps into it. 

I push him away. ''Quit being a nosy ass! Anyway, these are for me,'' I pull out two bottles of vodka to show him.

''You're drinking all of this alone!'' he shrieks. ''Wow! Are you being serious right now?''

''Dead serious. The vodka is for me. I'm going through stuff okay.''

''Okay, well that's why we're having this dinner right? So that you can talk about it,'' He explains softly.

''Yeah well this is some other stuff, which I can't tell you, '' I cross my arms and side eye him.

''What, you're having boyfriend problems already?'' a voice says from behind us. I grit my teeth in annoyance and turn ready to give him a peace of my mind but it all goes out the window when I see him standing there shirtless, his hair dripping wet from the shower. The only thing covering him is the loose pair of black pants he is wearing.

My eyes travel from his face, to his well-built chest and chiseled abs. I hate to admit it,but this man is fine! My eyes briefly land on the mark on his neck before I look away.

''Mmmmhhh you like what you see don't you?'' Charles murmurs slyly from behind me.

''It's rude to be walking around naked in front of guests,'' I say loudly, trying to look anywhere else but at him. Surprised that my voice didn't squeak.

''Oh right, hey man are we expecting guests?'' Theo asks Charles, completely ignoring my presence.

''It's me! me! I'm the guest! What's wrong with him?'' I throw my hands in the air exasperatedly.

''Beats me, but whatever it is, I'm loving it,'' Charles chuckles. 

''Oh goddess, I'm starting to regret coming here,'' I pinch the bridge of my nose.

''No, no, no, you take that back,'' Charles runs to the door in an attempt to block my exit, ''you're not going anywhere!'' he yells like mad man.

''And who's going to stop me you?'' I quirk an eyebrow at him.

 ''Ahemm...actually I will, '' Theo smirks and walks up to stand next to Charles. I size them up mentally. A beta only, I can take him but a beta and his alpha, side note, my mate will be tough.

''Fine, I'm not going anywhere. But if I'm staying, I need a drink or two or more.''

They both visibly relax and Charles walks back to the kitchen. ''Great, now I'll put the spaghetti to boil while you two can start rolling the meatballs. As for the drinks, here you can have this......'' he removes a glass from the top shelf and turns to give it to me, ''.......... or not,'' he completes once he sees me drinking directly from the bottle.

''This is going to be fun,'' Theo chuckles as he walks out of the room, fully dressed this time. I avert my gaze from him and roll my sleeves up, ready to help out. I take my bottle of vodka with me and take a sip out it. Theo, who has been watching me intently makes his way towards me.

''Hey Athena, you do realize that one bottle won't cut it. We do have a high tolerance,'' Charles says from the other side of the kitchen as he stirs the pot. Both literally and figuratively 

''Oh I'm aware. That's why I brought two bottles,'' I smirk at him.

 ''Well you should know you're stronger than that too and two bottles will not be enough,'' Theo challenges. I turn to look at him only to find him already staring at me, his eyes shining with mischief.

''Well you should know then, that I have back up,'' I reply proudly.

''Wow, you really want to get drunk don't you? rough week?'' Charles asks.

''More like rough life,'' I roll my eyes and take some meat in my hand to start rolling it into medium sized balls. As soon as I put my hand in the bowl so does Theo making our hands come in contact with each other.

The moment our skins touched, I felt sparks travel down my body. My whole skin starts tingling in pleasure. The mate bond buzzing incessantly and an involuntary gasp escapes me. I see Theo shiver from my peripheral vision. Looks like he felt it too.

Oh goddess this is not fair! It's cheating!!! All these feelings and sensations are happening only because of this stupid mate bond. I'd like to see if these sparks are still there without the mate bond!

''You okay?'' Theo whispers, his voice husky as he looks down at me. Ughh damn him and his perfect height and those plump lips  and..... 

''Uhh.... yeah...yeah,'' I clear my throat and take a step back.

''So the spaghetti's almost done. Are you two done rolling the meatballs or are you still playing around?'' Charles suddenly calls out.

''Just a few more man,'' Theo says. I look up and see Charles wearing a 'kiss the cook' apron. 

''Are you sure that's appropriate?'' I point at it.

''Why? Would you rather Theo be wearing it?'' he smirks then throws in a flirty wink. 

''Ughh...I'd rather you not wear it at all.''

''Oooooohhhh, Athena you naughty girl. If you want to see me naked, just say the word,'' he says seductively and I hear a low warning growl emitting from Theo on my left . I resist the urge to laugh.

''Ewww, gross no!!'' I cringe and make and incoherent sound. ''Okay...umm rude!!'' he waves his spatula at me.

I chuckle at his antics and shake my head at him, '' You're such a drama queen.'' 

At this point I realized that I haven't thought about Leo in hours and I'm having, dare I say, fun. Which now leads me to start thinking about him and my hand shoots out to grab my bottle.

''If only you knew how much fun we used to have. It sucks that you don't have any memory of us Athena. It really does,'' Charles says solemnly.

They both look at me expecting me to say something but I'm busy chugging down the vodka. ''Okay, I think that's enough Athena, '' Theo says and tries to grab the bottle from my hand but i move away in time.

''You wouldn't dare,'' I threaten him. An evil smirk plays on his lips, ''is that a challenge, Athena?'' he emphasizes on my name making me go weak in the knees. Ohhh goddess, I walked right into this didn't I?

''What if it is?'' I reply, surprised that I managed to say that in a straight voice. I honestly thought I'd squeak. ''You do realize you're challenging an alpha,'' he says lowly coming dangerously close to me. Umm excuse me, personal space much? All the while he attempts to grab the bottle from me but I predict his move and switch the bottle to my left hand.

''You do realize I'm an alpha too,'' I smirk in response. He raises his eyebrows at me in mock, ''I bet your instincts are sharp,'' he teases and tries to grab the bottle again but I back away from him only to hit a wall. He doesn't waste a second and closes the distance.

He puts his hands on either side of me, successfully blocking my exit, ''nowhere to run now,'' he whispers, which makes my skin tingle in delight, my wolf who is beyond ecstatic from being this close to her mate. I look into his light brown eyes and see......longing and sadness. He is sad, broken even. Oh my god, is that all because of me?

I quickly look away from him. No..no.... I cannot let this happen. I came here with a plan and that was to stay far away from him as much as possible for the night. Not this! This was certainly not the plan.

Okay, so I need to get out from his 'cage'. My eyes travel to his sturdy arms, the veins popping on his lower arm. Focus, woman. Focus!! Well, two can play a game.

A smile starts forming on my lips and I have to bite on my lower lip to stop myself. ''That is not a very wise thing to do,'' he suddenly says. I quickly realize he is talking about the lip biting. Great, I can use it to my advantage.

I bite my lip more and push myself forward. He is shocked by the sudden movement and loses his momentum for a bit, I use this to my advantage and whisper in his ear, 'you lose,' before I duck and sprint to outside the kitchen, straight to the living room.

An amused Charles and a disgruntled Theo follow me out as I plop on one of the couches and take a swig out of my bottle and smirk at them.

''As much as I loved watching you two getting it on back there, I'm starting to get hungry, so I'll just finish up in there while you two set the table. And no more games!''

***

So what did you guys think?

Thoughts in the comment section as usual

-Jessica.S