how many more times?
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I was a young man, I couldn't resist
Started thinkin' it over, just what I had missed
Got me a girl and I kissed her and then and then
Whoops, oh lord, well I did it again

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Mr. White went back to his wife that night, and for the next few days, we both acted like nothing had happened between those four walls. However, a craving was growing within me— one slice wasn't enough; I wanted more from him.

It didn't help that I couldn't see him for a while. On Monday, he texted me about a business trip to Spain. Despite the invitation, I decided not to mix our private and personal lives. Later, Archer told me that Mr. White's wife joined him on the trip.

His decision to keep that information from me wasn't unexpected. In our undefined state, we evaded the responsibilities of labeled relationships. Yet, jealousy consumed me. Other than what Mr. White had told me, I had no clear picture of what their daily lives looked like. Did they still sleep together? Did they make love?

"What's on your mind, nugget?"

Archer appeared out of nowhere, catching me against the wall with a box of orange juice pressed to my lips. He scared the shit out of me.

"Don't call me that. I'm your editor." I retorted, clicking my tongue, and returned my focus to the juice.

"Is it my father again?"

"Archer, isn't this situation weird for you?" I furrowed my brow as our eyes locked. "I mean, I know that what your mother did was very cruel, but doesn't it bother you that I am in love with your father?"

"You're in love!?" He smirked, clearly mocking me.

I rolled my eyes back at him. "Stop being childish and answer my question."

"I guess I can see why he wants you so bad." Archer's face turned serious, his eyes studying my features. "My father has stopped touching women since he learned about my mother's affair. Something about you made him unable to resist."

I felt a pang of self-doubt. "I'm nothing special, though. Now I wonder what he saw in me..."

"It's your sadness, Audrey. It perfectly matches his."

At that moment, he got distracted by our colleagues who were finally coming out of the meeting room for our lunch break. He waved at me and I mouthed a "bye". My little juice box grumbled in protest as I drained it completely, the faint slurping sound echoing in the corridor. I threw it in the bin and walked towards my office. As the plastic echoed in the bin, I couldn't shake off the words I had exchanged with Archer.

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POV: Tina Montgomery

Paul and I.

I stood in front of the bar, waiting for Audrey to show up while thinking about how "Paul and I" never became a thing. In the last few months, we finally got to the point where we would at least acknowledge each other outside of the working environment, yet he fled from the situation as soon as we slept together.

While his actions were cowardly, I hadn't expected much from the start. Paul had a reputation for avoiding commitment to women after his divorce. I often wondered if this was because Carla, his ex-wife, still lingered in his thoughts. Of course that was it, but at the time I didn't want to accept it.

He had been very romantic for a while. He threw a party in the best of the mansions for my departure and even asked me to stay. I did. I stayed for so long, for him to notice me only when he was about to lose me.

I raised my dark eyes and met my distorted reflection in the glass of wine I held in my left hand. My dark complexion was enhanced by a trace of cool-toned makeup, but you could notice how stressed I was. I've never been a cheerful person, the difficulties in life strengthened my personality through time and I never really recovered that childish, happy kid I once was.

Audrey was late, again. I should've waited in the car. I lifted my right hand just to bring the cigarette close to my thick, pink-tinted lips. I took a single drag and breathed it towards the street. The smoke reached a couple that was too distracted with their romantic stories to notice.

"Tina? What are you doing here?"

I could've recognized his voice in a room full of men, but at that time, Paul's tone was a faraway echo. I wasn't too surprised about meeting him there, it was more of a shock when I searched for him with my eyes just to meet those of another girl. Right behind him stood a blonde, beautiful girl.

"I'm waiting for Audrey." I finally replied, taking another nervous drag from the cigarette. I tried to keep my cool, but it wasn't easy. Afterall, he was my crush for so long.

"You shouldn't be out here on your own at this hour." He scolded me like a father, as he usually did, and a faint smile formed on my mouth.

"I'll be fine, Mr. Brown," I improvised, signaling that I'd keep my composure despite my apparent anger. In response, he gave me an odd look, and I couldn't read his thoughts as easily as I usually could.

The girl grabbed him by the arm and led him into the pub, prompting me to look away. Watching that scene was not easy for me. Sure, I might be tough to hurt, but I was also a girl in love with a man. I wasn't immune to feelings of jealousy and heartbreak, despite what he might have thought.

Finishing my cigarette, I crouched down to put it out on the sidewalk. As I stood up and turned to check if Audrey's car had finally parked in the usual spot, I found myself face-to-face with Paul's broad shoulders. He towered over me, his entire body hiding mine.

"Let's talk," he whispered, giving me no choice as he pulled me by the wrist, guiding me to an alley next to the pub. His touch was warm against my skin, and all I could think about was how to get myself out from the situation and shield my heart as much as possible.

He stopped when the sounds from the street were distant and muffled. I was panting, not from running, but from the psychological challenges of it all. "Mr. Brown, what are you doing? They'll see us..."

He didn't care. The look on his face told me he had forgotten about all the hiding we had been doing. "I have been calling you."

"Yeah, I've received the calls. But I don't work for you anymore." I tried to maintain distance, leaning my back against the red-bricked wall. I watched him from four feet away, visibly annoyed at his presence alone.

"I wasn't calling you because of work. What's gotten into you?" Paul frowned, and it made me want to confront him. "I thought we were doing fine. We were having fun."

"Fun?" My lips parted, and my expression grew incredulous. "You were having fun," I corrected him, barely keeping my composure. "I was crushing on you for, like, years." My voice trembled, but I refused to let him see me cry.

He just looked at me with those oblivious eyes and sighed. "I thought we agreed on what we both wanted in this relationship." It hurt to sense disappointment from him, as we had indeed agreed to keep things casual.

"We did, that's why I had to distance myself. I was beginning to want more." My gaze went back to the end of the alley, wondering if his date would show up angry at any moment. "And you moved on pretty fast, so what are you complaining about?"

Damn it, I couldn't keep my jealousy to myself. He raised an eyebrow, and for the first time, I felt overwhelmed by his maturity. He was so calm, even now. And come to think of it, Paul never actually reacted to me. Audrey's case came to mind: Mr. White was so obvious with his attraction to her. I had nothing to work with.

"I didn't move on." His voice lowered, and he took a step towards me. There was no running away now; I had my back against the wall – quite literally. "That's my son's new girlfriend."

My heart raced, unsure if it was because he was getting close or because I just found out I had nothing to be jealous about. "You didn't move on?"

"Tina." The way he said my name made my legs go numb, and now his body was almost against mine. He leaned forward, lowering to his elbows against the wall, right at the sides of my face. My defenses crumbled, and all my protective mechanisms against him suddenly failed.

Instinctively, I gulped and raised both of my hands to his hips. My palms met the soft cotton of his suit jacket, gripping it into fists. "You said we were having fun..."

"I thought you wanted that kind of relationship because you were going to move away soon." His nose brushed against mine, and my hands clutched his jacket. "You can't just disappear after being together all the time for weeks."

I raised my lashes and looked for his eyes. I was a strong woman, but with him that completely went away. And I wasn't scared, because that man was able to protect me, even now that the threat was him. "Paul," Finally, I called him by his name like I'd done for the last few weeks. "This isn't like me at all. I'm not letting a man get in the way of my future." That was out of the question. "And you're so obviously still in love with Carla, I–"

"What?" He sounded genuinely confused, but I wasn't buying it. No one could convince me that he wasn't still in love with Carla. Paul backed away and stood in front of me. "This is why you're distancing yourself from me?"

"Don't look at me like I'm crazy. I won't sacrifice my future for a man who loves his ex-wife so dramatically." My voice trembled as I became more emotional.

"First of all, Tina, I'm not asking you to 'drop your future' or whatever that means. You have to go." He spoke a little louder, and I could sense his frustration building up. "And I am not in love with Carla. Carla is in love with Debbie from the third floor. They began their relationship when we got divorced and are about to marry next summer."

I blinked in surprise, processing the information. "Wait... what?" Again, I gulped, and all the certainty about Paul being indifferent to me vanished. "But—"

"Hush." I hated when he shushed me, but I was out of words anyway. "You don't seem to be aware of what was going on between you and me. So let me tell you something, honey." His London accent added a touch of heat, and I knew I would miss it.

"Don't shush me, you douche." I threw a playful fist at his shoulder, and he let me do it with an amused smile.

"As I was saying," he ignored my insult, still keeping a distance from me, "I noticed you way before you even knew who I was. So I think you're downplaying my feelings a bit."

"That's impossible, actually." I didn't believe him at all. Hope began to grow, giving me butterflies.

"I was one of the recruiters in your college. I wasn't in charge of your faculty, but damn, I found you gorgeous." Paul wasn't nervous, but I could see that he wasn't used to this kind of talk. As I had stated before, he didn't react much. Ever. "Then you showed up at the team one day, and it was so hard to avoid you."

"Why avoid me? I loved you." My confession came out naturally as I sniffed, trying to keep my emotions from showing.

"I'm an old divorced man. I was trying not to influence you or take advantage of you in your workplace." As he said that, my heart sank, and I realized how difficult things were for Paul. Putting myself into his shoes made me see things clearly for once.

"What made you change your mind?" I asked, looking for his eyes with mine. My gaze was filled with emotion.

"One day for some reason you went out of character and you dolled up for me. I couldn't resist anymore." He passed his big hand all over his chin and jawline. "And then I learned that you were going to move away and quit." Paul paused again, trying hard to find the right words. "I was sad that you were moving away from me, but I was so glad you weren't working for me anymore. That made it possible for us to... you know. Make love. Wake up next to each other. Spend our whole evening watching comedies or reading something."

As he described our daily lives for the past weeks before I disappeared, I couldn't stop thinking about how much my perspective was changing. I had always thought that my feelings were stupid. That he didn't even know my name. "But now we're going to be separated for so long. You have so many women around you, and I... I'll be so busy with work."

"Tina, are you still in love with me?"

"I'm telling you it doesn't matter anymore..."

"Answer me."

My phone started ringing. Audrey was probably looking for me, but I couldn't pick up the call right then. I could barely move, actually.

"I am."

"Well, I love you. I have been in love with you for a very long time."

I couldn't breathe, my head was going dizzy, and my heart was pounding so loud I could feel it against my chest. "What now?"

"I'm coming to New York with you. Actually, I'm opening my own publishing house over there." Paul seemed so sure about what he was talking about. But I couldn't believe him. He could see the doubt in my expression and immediately softened his. "You don't want this?"

"I do!" I rushed.

"Then come here, baby. I've been dying to kiss you." He gestured for me to come closer, and I got up from the wall, jumping with my arms aimed at his neck. My full lips met his, and both of us couldn't wait to deepen the kiss as soon as we touched.

Paul pushed me against the wall again, putting his hands all over me. My mind was going crazy; it wouldn't shut up, as neither did my phone.

"Paul," I whispered against his lips. "They're looking for us..."

"Yeah. We should go in. Together."

"Are you really sure?"

"Tina."

"I'm sorry, I just can't believe this."

"Well, then I'll have to convince you every single time."

He landed one last kiss before taking my hand and guiding me into the pub. Audrey was there, and for some reason, so was Mr. White. Paul and I noticed right away that something wasn't right. Archer White was visibly upset, and Audrey was standing between Mr. White and a man I had never seen before.

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