Chapter Seventeen - Burning Love
I had made up my mind. I marched right into the building and straight into his office. His door was already opened and he was writing something down. I slammed the door behind me which caused him to look up with wide eyes. My shoulders were back and my stance was wide. "I am not scared!" I yelled aloud. His brows furrowed together in confusion. He then gestured to the door. "Why did you slam the do-that's not important right now!" I interrupted. I then walked up to his desk and slammed my hands down. "I'm not scared anymore and I know what I have to do." He slowly nodded his head still in confusion. "Okay, and what's that?" Oh boy, here we go.
Flashback Starts
I ran to the freezer and opened it, hoping that I might find my stash. The lights then turned on and I saw Mary holding the spoon and Olivia holding my tub of dutch chocolate ice cream. Before I even knew it I was sobbing in between them on the floor of our kitchen. I couldn't exactly tell them the whole truth, with me and my family being superheroes and my boss being our ex nemesis. Olivia was rubbing my back as Mary was braiding my hair as I shoved spoonfuls into my mouth. "It gets better, I promise it does," Mary said calmly. "How do you know?" I asked with my mouth full. "Because I may or may not have a complicated relationship with my boss." Both Olivia and I looked at her in awe. "Floyd?" Olivia asked. Mary nodded her head with a slight chuckle. "Yes, that big scary guy you both have seen isn't that scary…..but I can promise you he is that big." I nearly spit out my ice cream as she said that. "Ay Dios Mio!" Olivia shouted as I put down my tub. "Tell us more!" I asked. Mary let go of my hair and sat up. "It started a few months after I started working there. We got to know each other and then one thing leads to another and before you know it, I'm bent over on his desk and he's pulling my hair." She then bit her lip. "That man sure does know how to have a good time." Olivia and I both looked at each other and then back at her. "How big?" Olivia asked without hesitation. I turned to look at her in disbelief. "Let's just say that me and my cervix have been touched by an angel." I couldn't help but laugh. I had no idea, no wonder Mary never talked too much about work. "What makes it complicated?" I asked. She then looked at me with an eyebrow raised. "Well for starters he's my boss. He's 20 years older than I am. And he wants an actual relationship whereas I want a more physical...thing."
"You're not looking for a husband?" Olivia asked. "Not really, I just want someone to mess around with. Sure, one day I'll have a husband, a couple of kids, a dog, a house with a white picket fence, but all of that can wait. In all honesty, ladies, don't do stuff you're not ready for. My parents had me when they were very young and they struggled. I don't understand why it's so taboo for women to want to explore their sexualities and live a little. A guy can do it, hell men have been doing it for thousands of years. But when a woman does it, she's ridiculed and burned at the stake." Again, Mary is very much ahead of her time. She then looked over at me. "Vi, you want to figure out your feelings? Just get the biggest obstacle out of your way." I then looked at her confused. "Which is?" I asked. "Your fears, your anxieties! Throw it out the window." Out the window? Is that even a good idea? "How?" She grabbed my face in both of her hands. "Do the thing you know you're not supposed to do."
Flashback Ends
After a very long night of thinking, crying, banging my head against my dresser, I had concluded. A dangerous conclusion.
I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up to my lips and kissed him.
Every atom in my body screamed at me for my wrongdoing, and that's what made it feel so damn good. Who'd thought, just simply pressing your lips against the right-...wrong person's would feel so good? I pulled away and looked at him. His bright blue eyes pierced me to my very core. I then let go and backed away into the chair that was in front of his desk and fell into it. My heart was racing and my hands were shaking. He began to stand up without breaking eye contact, but before he was completely up straight he shook his head and looked away. It was as if he was breaking his trance. He looked around frantically and then he looked down at his watch. He immediately sat back down and buried his face into the palm of his hands. He sighed heavily. "Oh my gosh, your father is going to kill me."
This made me smirk for some reason. I had this feeling in my stomach resurface itself. He looked back up at me shaking his head, "Why?" He asked. Why did I do that? There were several things I could've done, but I chose this. "For once, I decided to act rather than just think," I admitted without breaking my gaze. "I'm…. what the hell do I even say to something like this?" He said with a slight chuckle. I shrugged my shoulders, "Maybe something along the lines of 'you've surprised me, Parr'." He chuckled while shaking his head again. "That would be an understatement." I gave him a small smile. "I won't tell them if you won't," I whispered to him. I didn't want him to get into trouble because of me. How selfish would that be? "They're going to find out regardless and I promise you, you're not the one going to be punished." He sat up and strummed his fingers on top of the desk. "How will they find out?" I asked now rethinking everything. "I'm monitored 24/7 anywhere and everywhere I go. Ever since you've gotten involved, I've been instructed on what to do and what not to do." This then raised a lot of questions in my head. "So the people monitoring you knew this was a possibility?" He nodded his head, "I would even go as far as to say that they expected for this to happen." I felt my face heat up. It suddenly got very hot in the room. "You don't say?" He then gave me an odd look. "Are you alright?" I opened my mouth but instead of words, this squeaking noise came out. "I'll take that as a no. Don't back out now. You came in here pretty confident, don't walk out of here with your tail in between your legs."
I covered my face while shaking my head. "Easy for you to say, you didn't do any of that. I did! I probably looked like an idiot too!" He thought for a moment and then shook his head. "No, but you did look crazy." I scoffed. "I appreciate the honesty." It then got quiet. "If I'm being completely honest, I found you very attractive during the entire thing." I couldn't help but laugh. "At this point, you're just making fun of me!" He shook his head while laughing too. "I'm telling you the truth!" It got quiet again. "So what are we gonna do?" He asked in a more serious tone. The million-dollar question. "I think, for once, I'm just gonna let stuff happen. I'll worry about the consequences later. My entire life I've overthought everything." He continued to stare at me, with some concern written in his expression. "I won't let them punish you. I'll make it clear to them what happened." I then sat up. "And if they don't believe it?" I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't see why they would think I'm lying. I'll have my therapist vouch for me. She knows everything." He nodded his head in agreement. "I couldn't agree with you more. In all honesty, I think she knows too much about me, with her traditions and techniques." I then looked over at him in shock, which sounded way too familiar. "Say again?" I asked. He then looked at me weird. "What's wrong?" I then clutched the arms of the chair. "Holly!?" His eyes then widened. "Don't tell me she's your-?" I nodded my head. "This makes a lot more sense." I couldn't agree with him more.
At least one thing was for sure, she knew the whole story.