How to Not Fall for My Boss ✔

15. Life Actually

What should a girl do after kissing her boss the night before?

Nothing. Especially after getting a cold shoulder from her sister and a not-so-friendly reminder from Aunt Martha about her mom.

Cobie has to agree with their aunt that she needs to speed up finding the best dementia facility house for Mom before the situation brings everyone down. Rose not being home for almost a week has put the situation in perspective. If they can't be solid in supporting their mom at home, residential care has to happen now. Her aunt also has a family to take care of and life to attend to; she can't promise that she will always be there when they need her. At the end of the day, it's for her mom's safety, and for her and Rose's peace of mind.

Cobie's morning is all about getting her job done while making some phone calls and pressing several nursing homes to put her on this weekend's appointments. She needs to move ahead —with or without Rose— and check all the options within their budget. Despite the money they've been saving up for this, she expects there will be some adjustments that have to be made. Not that she minds it. Her mother's needs come first. She will be giving up the house if that's necessary.

At least, Luke has been keeping himself inside his office, behind the closed shades, and having a few meetings with Marketing people. It gives her less distraction. well, not entirely. Her mind still occasionally jumps back and forth around the kiss. Luke hasn't said anything about it, unlike those giddy boys who texted her right away after she let them kiss her. Maybe the kiss was not a big deal for him. Maybe it was just a spontaneous action from last night's situation.

Her mind is in the middle of a chaotic intersection when her phone goes off.

"Hey," Luke's voice echoes from the other side of the line, prompting Cobie to glance at her boss' office room. The shades are already pulled back up, and Luke is alone again, leaning back to his chair backrest, but he doesn't look in her direction. "How are you feeling?"

Cobie briskly looks at her surroundings to make sure no one is paying attention to her. Even though there is zero chance that they know about them talking on the phone, she still needs to make sure. When her eyes land on the girls from the Finance division, one of them is staring back at her with a sharp glare, sending her an invisible bullet to make a hole in her head.

"Better than someone in this office at the moment," she replies.

"Sorry?"

"Never mind. I'm okay. At least Rose went home this morning."

"Good. How was it?"

Despite the temptation to check what he's doing right now, Cobie refrains from doing so. She gets up and makes her way to the pantry after making sure there is no one there. "She was ignoring me, of course. But she's home. That's all I'm asking for right now."

"Yeah." There is a brief pause between them before she hears his voice again. "I've been thinking. After what I heard and saw last night, I think I made a mistake with...us. I shouldn't have kissed you, Cobie. Our situation is just...not in our favor. I was carried away and did not think clearly. I'm sorry."

Cobie freezes. Is he trying to break up with her despite the fact that they aren't even together? Is this some kind of a game? Right after proving his point that she's attracted to him, she succumbs to his advances, then he plays this "I'm sorry, it shouldn't have happened" card? How familiar. She should have known better than to trust a man. Especially someone like him who has things easy in hand.

"Don't worry about it. It's just a" —she looks at her surroundings once again, lowering her tone— "kiss. No biggie."

"I feel terrible now."