F.O.U.R

F.O.U.R

*

*

Faith had tried hard to ignore the stares of some of her co-workers, they had all seen her step out of the boss' car this morning. Their whispers made Faith uncomfortable, she had always hated being the center of attention and now she could easily guess that she was the topic of today's topic. 

It was already almost afternoon, As Faith walked into the cafeteria to grab some coffee, she saw three of her co-workers locked in a discussion. 

"I knew something was going on between her and Mr. Hunter all along! they are starting to make their relationship open after she made him break up with his girlfriend? That Faith is too shameless!"

Faith paused midway to stare at Patricia, Yvonne, and Darla, the three ladies didn't seem to be aware of her presence yet. 

"Didn't you hear what the fight yesterday was all about? Mr. Hunter's girlfriend spoke that she really does sleep with the boss, Mr. Hunter didn't deny it either. Some people just have everything easy, She isn't even all that pretty to look at, I wonder what he sees in her!" Yvonne whispered. 

Faith felt her lips tighten in anger, she started to open her mouth to speak but Darla beat her to it. 

"Cheers to us who got to our positions without having to get on our knees to suck a dick! She's so disgusting! I just can't stand her! I bet she thinks she's better than all of us, just wait until Mr. Hunter uses and dumps her, we're gonna laugh so hard!" 

They all started to laugh when Faith stormed inside the room. 

"Are you all done spewing rubbish about me?" 

They all turned around to face her, wearing guilty looks as they stole glances at each other. 

"What do you mean? Maybe you heard it wrong? We totally weren't talking about you." Patricia wore an innocent look that was totally faked. 

"I'm not stupid! I get that you all hate me, and can't stand me, but by creating rumors like this, you are not only tarnishing my reputation but ruining the boss' image as well, these are things that I'm not going to tolerate!" 

"Don't talk about reputation, we all know you wouldn't have gotten the job in the first place if you didn't spread your legs open! I'm just surprised the boss kept you till this time, I guess you are really talented!" Darla sneered. 

Faith shot a tight smile in Darla's direction. "Since you want to know why Mr. Hunter kept me for so long, why don't I call him down here so you can ask him about it yourself? I'm sure only he can give the most perfect explanation to all of you." 

Faith walked to the nearest telephone and started to punch Sterling Hunter's number when Patricia suddenly grasp her arms. 

"Don't! Please__it was all my fault, I'm sorry." Patricia wore a pleading look, even Darla's smug expression vanished, and the sparkle of fear in her eyes was very evident. 

They realized their situation quickly, they could easily get fired from their jobs if the boss came down.

"I will say this only once, there's nothing between me and Mr. Hunter, He's my boss and that's it. I don't want to hear nonsense talks about this again!"

Faith grabbed the coffee she had come for and walked out of the cafeteria, leaving them to stare after her. 

She heaved out a loud sigh, It was good that she made things clear.

She blamed Mr. Hunter's strong-headedness, he should never have insisted on bringing her to work. He might have simply had good intentions, but he was as well making things difficult for her. He might not care about the talks about them, but she did.

*

*

"Sir, your coffee." Faith carefully handed the steaming mug to Sterling Hunter. 

"Thank you." He said, grasping the cup, and taking a huge gulp.

It's been four years but she still found it surprising how much her boss loved her coffee. 

He would never drink unless she personally made it.

She watched as he took another sip, the way his adam apple swell as he swallowed.   There was something quite attractive about the action. 

The hot liquid he drank seemed to have added more color to his lips, she suddenly wondered how it would feel to taste his fuller bottom lip. He would probably taste like hot coffee. 

Her stomach clenched at the thought and she realized the error of her thinking,  she snapped out of it almost immediately. 

Where the hell did the thought come from?!

"This is one of the reasons I won't let you go, who else can make such perfect coffee for me if you're gone?" He muttered so lowly but she managed to hear him. 

"Are you saying that you're willing to adjust that clause in the contract, you haven't said anything but I believe you're not willing to fire me or you wouldn't have brought me to work today." Faith spoke, meeting Hunter Sterling's gaze, he was staring at her through the rim of his mug. She couldn't read the emotion in his stare.

"Are you so sure? What if I insist that you give up on your so-called relationship."

So-called relationship? Faith winced at his choice of words, was her personal life and feelings really that useless to him? 

"Are you going to leave your job if I don't agree? Have you thought about it clearly?"

Faith also couldn't judge from his tone what he was thinking and she hated it. 

Was he testing her?

"What if I assure you that my personal life would never get in the way of the job?" She spoke and Sterling Hunter suddenly straightened to his feet, his six-foot-four inches easily towering above her. 

She was surprised when he patted her shoulder and smiled down at her, her boss rarely smiled so she was taken aback by how strikingly handsome he looked.

"Don't worry, I'm not about to fire you, I don't care who you date, It's my fault, I should have realized how hard it has been for you all these years."

She lifted her brows, completely taken by surprise, she never expected him to say this and even more. 

"I shouldn't have been so inconsiderate, who knows you could have been married with two kids by now, you don't blame me, do you?"

Faith giggled aloud, she had not seen this side of her boss before, he had never sounded so playful and less intimidating, what had gotten into him?

"Of course not sir! Thank you for agreeing to this! I can't tell you how much this means to me!"

"Do not thank me, Ms. Jameson, it is just your right, I just hope your boyfriend is worth it and treats you well like you deserve."

Faith realized once again that her boss might have some flaws, he was human after all. Still, he was the best she could ever had ask for.  

Her eyes started to sting, she didn't know why she was getting emotional and suddenly had the urge to hug him. 

And she threw her arms around him before she stopped to think. His masculine cologne greeted her nostrils, she had never been this close to him before. 

She felt the way he turned rigid, his arms remained by his sides. 

It became awkward as she suddenly remembered that he was her boss and not her friend or anything. 

What was wrong with her! 

The apology was stuck in her throat, she started to inch backward but his arm suddenly tightened around her waist. Her warm stare held his gaze as he spoke. 

"You've been with me all these years, I can't let you go that easily, I'll do everything to ensure that you'll always be by my side" 

She watched the way his lips move, something about the way he uttered those words made her stomach flip and her heart skip.

His clasp around her waist was too closed, leaving her no room to move even if she wanted to. 

She suddenly became too aware of their intimacy. 

Her breasts were pressed against his hard body. 

Their faces were too close. The thought that he must be aware of it too sent a wave of heat and embarrassment through her. 

"I__I__" Her thoughts flew to a million pieces when his face leaned even closer, their lips were a mere inches apart! She found herself focusing on his lower fuller lips and that urge to know what it would feel like to kiss him suddenly return with full force. 

Her heart was thumping too fast, could he feel it as well? 

She unconsciously ran the tip of her tongue across her lips and felt an intense wave in her stomach when his eyes followed the movement. 

Some emotion flashed across his eyes and before the could identify what it was, he suddenly released her, shoving her a few feet away from him. 

"You still have a lot of work to do, Ms. Jameson!" His voice sounded harsh and stern.

She suddenly wished the ground would open and swallow her. 

"Don't waste any more time, you can leave!" She didn't need to be told twice, she practically ran out of the office, shutting the door close behind her. 

She returned to her desk still feeling ashamed of her behavior. 

Why hadn't she tried to move when she first realized the mistake of hugging him?  Why would she want to kiss him in the first place!

Did she take the wrong medicines by mistake? 

He was her boss for goodness' sake! And she wasn't attracted to him! She was only grateful to him and had made the mistake of taking it too far. 

She would ensure that it never happened again. 

*