Upon reentering her office, Brittany noticed that Santana seemed to be a little more composed. At least, on the outside anyway. She also noticed that Santana had actually left that little bit of space between the blinds open. It made her smile.

"You don't have any client meetings today, but obviously, you do have an associates meeting at noon, since it's Friday."

"Right. Thank you."

Brittany started to turn away but Santana stopped her. "Brittany?"

"Mmm?"

"Were you trying to tease me earlier?"

Brittany brought her arms to her chest and crossed them. Santana's face was completely unreadable, but her voice sounded almost playful. Brittany decided to go bold.

"Did you feel teased?" Brittany asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Santana stood up from her desk and walked around it to stand in front of Brittany. When she spoke, her voice was much lower than usual. More raspy. More dangerous.

"You will lose this game."

Holy sweet fuck. Brittany wanted desperately to say something witty back, but nothing would come out, and then Santana was looking down at her lips again, and it was getting hotter in the room. The back of her neck started to feel a little sweaty. She wiped at it with her hand and took a deep breath.

"And...what game are we playing?"

Santana smiled evilly at those words. "The one where we try to out-tease each other."

Brittany gulped. Yes, it was definitely warmer in this room. "And...what happens when...when somebody loses?"

Santana leaned in closer and let just her forefinger travel down Brittany's arm in a zigzagging pattern.

"That somebody will be you. You will lose control. It will be up to me to stop you."

The heat between Brittany's legs was growing warmer. She could feel her heartbeat in her ears.

"You seem very confident." On some level, Brittany was a little surprised her voice wasn't shaking yet.

Santana just smiled in response and turned away to walk back to her desk, letting her finger trail down Brittany's skin until she couldn't reach it anymore. The blonde's knees actually felt weak. Legitimate weak fucking knees. A small voice in her head told her Santana was probably right. She turned into mush practically every time the woman even looked at her a certain way. But she'd at least put up a good fight first.

She made her way to the door of the office and turned around. "Santana?"

"Mmm?"

"Don't count me out just yet."

Santana smiled back as if inviting the challenge.

Brittany's Friday actually turned into one large disappointment. Santana's associates meeting ended up taking the majority of the afternoon, and by the time she got back from it, Brittany would be leaving soon. At 5 o'clock, she scooped up her keys and was about to grab her bag from under the desk, but she stopped before she got there. Santana had pulled out her own purse and seemed to be digging through it hastily. Her face looked concerned as she set her purse back down and started looking through her desk drawers. Brittany got up to see what was going on.

"Missing something?" she asked from the doorway.

"Wha—? Oh...I, uh...no. Must have left it...back at home," she said as she snapped the last desk drawer shut.

"What are you looking for?"

"Oh... it's nothing. I'm sure it's at home." Santana said with a strained smile. "Going home?"

"Yes. Would you like to join me?" Brittany asked as nonchalantly as possible.

Santana quirked an eyebrow at these words.

"I was thinking about ordering a pizza, that's all. This isn't an invitation to come back and...do anything, Santana."

"You know nothing can happen, right?" she asked seriously.

Brittany took a deep breath before speaking next. "I think some would argue that something has already happened," she said quietly, looking at Santana from underneath her eyelashes.

"Flirting and teasing isn't anything," Santana responded quickly. "But that's all it can be."

"Because you're my boss?"

Santana sighed and looked down. "Because I'm your boss."

Brittany began to feel frustrated—in the bad kind of way. "Santana, you're a logical person. If having a relationship with colleagues is out-of-bounds, then surely flirting and teasing is too. Don't you think? What difference does it make?"

Santana stood up and walked slowly around her desk, like she was concentrating hard on every step. When she finally reached the blonde, she lifted her right hand towards Brittany's face but hesitated, letting her hand linger in midair. Steeling herself, she lifted her hand higher and again brushed the hair out of Brittany's eyes like she had before.

"Such a gorgeous shade of blue," Santana whispered quietly, letting her finger trace Brittany's jawbone.

Brittany could feel her heart slamming against her ribs, trying to escape.

"Santana..." Brittany said, taking a step forward.

But the woman instantly backed away, once again showing Brittany nothing but her hardened exterior.

"We can't, Brittany. We just...can't."

Brittany opened her mouth, but she had no idea what she was going to say. Santana saved her the trouble anyway.

"Enjoy your pizza...and your weekend. I'll see you Monday."

With that, she turned her back on Brittany and sat back down at her desk.

Brittany turned away and walked out of the office, quickly snatching up her keys and heading for the elevator. By the time the metals doors finally closed shut, Brittany could feel a slight prickling at the corners of her eyes.

Arriving home, the first thing she saw when she walked in the door was the old journal lying on the coffee table. Without really knowing why, she marched over to the couch and scooped up the journal and a pen laying on a nearby end table. Rapidly flicking through the pages, she found the first blank one, clicked her pen, and began to write.

Dear Stranger,

I found your journal yesterday in a coffee shop and decided to take it with me. If you decide to go back looking for it, I'm sorry. I promise not to read any of what you wrote. Your thoughts will still remain a secret.

Brittany paused in her writing, feeling good about at least not invading the other person's privacy. Then she bent over the book and continued.

I've never really written in a journal before...but I don't know what else to do now. I have to say something. I have to tell someone...even if it is just a stranger's diary. I met someone recently. Well, actually, she's my new boss. In one way, she's really easy to work for. She isn't demanding. She doesn't really even depend on me at all. At the same time, though, she's the hardest person I've ever had to work for. She's beautiful. She jumbles my thoughts just by looking at me. I've never met anyone like her before.

Journal, I don't understand her. She confuses me with nearly everything she says and does. I know she wants me. She's told me as much, but she says nothing can happen because she's my boss. But the longer time goes on, the more I think it's not just that. I wish she'd just let me in. As much as I want her, I also strangely want to know her. Everything there is to know. Which is weird, because she is the opposite of inviting. I think she's driving me crazy.

All I know now is this: she's pulling me in without trying, and she's right about one thing. It won't be long before I lose control.

Until next time,

Brittany

Brittany snapped the journal shut, feeling a little bit better. And a little bit worse.