Calvin watched his assistant half run out of the parking lot. What had he been thinking? The kiss was undeniably mind blowing but the consequences were sure going to be huge. How was he going to remove the awkward feeling that would now exist between them? If she had been avoiding him after the event at the beach, she was probably going to scream and run every time she saw him or just quit working for him altogether. What had he done?

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     Cassie came back from her early morning visit to her mother. She didn't feel like going to work and she was grateful that her mother hadn't noticed her dull attitude. The poor woman was trying so hard to get well. She had been kept company most of the time by Mrs. Flora, Claire's mom. For that, Cassie was very grateful but her mother was still a long way to total recovery and she needed money for series of almost never ending check ups that were inevitable. In short, she had to keep working for Mr. Carter and find him a wife.
  She dragged herself up and into the bathroom, setting the water at near scalding temperature in order to clear her head of the strange feeling she still felt from yesterday and her body which still felt hot from Mr. Carter's touch. She knew she felt something for Mr. Carter, but that feeling was meant to be buried. Mr. Carter was a man who had no time for emotions so there was no need entertaining thoughts about him. So she had her bath and went to work.

     ***************************
      On getting to work, Cassie was told that Mr. Carter had gone for an official meeting. She first felt disappointed, then relieved, and then confused. However, Mr. Carter had not failed to heap a two day work load on her table, leaving a message that she had to finish them up before the day's end. Was this his way of punishing her for the previous evening? Well, he couldn't blame her, after all she had tried to get away. Cassie's lips tingled as she thought of the kiss. She still couldn't imagine that she had kissed her.boss. Well, the earth shattering, mind blowing kiss had landed her a work load three times her normal capacity, if this was what people got when they kissed their bosses. Well, she was never going near Mr. Carter again.

       ***************************
Calvin silently watched Cassie work through through her files. He had purposely given her that work load so he could see her when he came back from his official meeting. Now, he felt bad watching her work with everyone of her strength and willpower that she had. Then she a call.
     He watched as her face got tense as she looked at the caller ID and then relax again after listening to the person over the phone and then responded that she had to stay a bit longer at work and that she would be there soon. And then, she hung up with a smile. What was happening? He wondered why she got so tense on seeing the caller ID. Cassie returned to her working at an even faster rate. Where was she going? He couldn't keep his curiosity to himself anymore so he walked into the office.

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      Cassie was ready to faint on the spot as she worked through the numerous files her boss had given her. When she got a call from her mother, she was tense as the fear of her mother having complications overcame her. Besides the fact that she had no money, her mother stood the chance of dying while going through another surgery as she was still very weak.
She heard footsteps approaching her. Footsteps she knew all too well-Mr. Carter's footsteps. What was he doing here? She thought angrily. Kissing her one night and nearly killing her the next day. Who the hell did that?
"I see you're still on the work I gave you." Calvin said, looking and sounding cold and uninterested.
"Two could play this game" Cassie thought as she responded to his statement in the same tone of voice and facial expression.
"Yes sir." She said curtly not minding to see the effect of her behaviour on Calvin.
Well, Calvin was dumbstruck. He had never seen her this cold. He had in fact expected her to shout at him or at least complain about the work load. Instead, all he got was silence cold, icy silence.
No way was he going to allow it. He hadn't complained when she began putting her hair up into tight buns after their first quarrel or when she started avoiding him after their encounter at the beach but at least she talked. If not always, sometimes. The idea sounded appealing but even he knew that this time, she couldn't be unaware.
"So, how was your day." He asked sounding a bit warmer.
Cassie nearly burst out laughing. "So he can actually engage in a conversation that's not about business " she thought. She would have answered, but seeing Mr. Carter trying to talk was worth the act.
"Normal !" She said just as cold as before.
"Any news on a bride?"
"No sir" her tone still did not change.
To her surprise, the mighty Mr. Carter began apologizing.
"Look, I'm sorry for giving you this much work load, I know I shouldn't have and I'm very sorry. If this is about yesterday I'm even more sorry. It shouldn't have happened."
At that statement, Cassie's mood soured. He hadn't even want to kiss her. He probably just needed a woman to soothe his needs and she just happened to be close by. She was such an idiot!
She did not say a word to Mr. Carter, just finished off the remaining of the files and packed up her things, ready to go. She still had to see her mother before going home. Turning to leave, Mr. Carter caught her wrist. She tried to pull it out but he held it in place.
"Would you please let me take you home?"
"No, sir" she said matter- of - factly. The last time he had made that offer, things had not exactly gone well. Yesterday, she had walked with him and he had kissed her. If she got into his ear, she would probably also get into his bed.
"Good night sir." She said and then walked out, leaving Calvin staring after her.

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