Twice in a lifetime

7

Selena Lockwood

I looked at the watch on my wrist, and the time indeed was 1:13 pm.

I looked at him apologetically.

"I apologise, Mr. Ashford, I had an emergency."

Now, he looked genuinely curious.

"Oh, what's that now? Did your date cry since you decided to leave him all alone after lunch?" He muttered with a hint of sarcasm.

Not a date but our daughter.

But of course, I won't say that.

"I had to help someone on my way back. I lost track of time. I will ensure it won't happen again." I asserted, hoping he'd leave.

"Fine. But as a matter of compensation, you have to stay behind for 30 minutes. You can do that, at least." He passed an evil smirk by my way.

I had to stay till 6 pm.

All I think about was Lyra. The daycare closes at 5 : 30 pm.

"What? This is absurd. I was just 13 minutes late, and this rule don't apply to me anymore. I'm no longer your employee." I fought back.

"Tsk tsk Selena, this is where you are wrong. You belong here.....Morales kinda traded you to me, at least till the end of the project." He whispered, stepping towards me, leaving no space between me and him.

I looked around, hoping no one was around to witness the intense drama between us.

There was no one. Thank god for that.

I passed him a sweet smile.
"Actually, Lucian. No one can 'trade' me to you. I came here by my own will, and I will get the job done no matter what."

Something flashed in his eyes, and suddenly, I was aware of our closeness. I could feel his cologne. Our breathes became raspier.

This man is a threat to my well-being.

Lucian moved past me abruptly, not before saying, " The blueprint should be on my desk at the end of the day."

For the next few hours, I was working straight towards the blue print, Dante and Layla were assisting me. We were 80% done, to say the least, and I'm happy with the outcome.

Plus, I haven't received any call from Ms. Nelson, so I'm assuming Lyra has settled in well.

Soon, it was just me on the desk as I had to stay behind. I was finishing up the blueprint. I hope that asshole will be content with the outline.

Or I'm smacking him with my laptop.

Thankfully, Rose Nelson, Lyra's nanny, had to pass by Ashford Inc. while going to her home. She assured me that she would drop Lyra on the way since I had to stay behind.

I reached the top floor to give Lucian the blueprint he's looking forward to.
(note the sarcasm)

As I was walking towards his office, I met the same woman I had seen with him during lunch, walking past me.

I had seen her somewhere, but I couldn't point out where.

Who cares anyway.

I knocked on his office door as soon I reached there.

"Come in." He voiced out.

I took a deep breath and went inside.

I felt a pit in my stomach because I have so many terrible memories associated with this very space.

I entered the room and found him engrossed in a file in his hand. The tie around his neck long abandoned. His first two shirt buttons were open giving me a perfect view of his tanned collarbone. I placed the file on his table and slid it towards him. He opened it up, not bothering to look at me.

Since my work was done here, I decided to leave and aimed for the door.

I was in the process of opening the handle as quickly as possible.

"I don't think I asked you to leave."

I turned towards him to find his blue eyes, like the tranquil depths of an ocean, on me. He had reading glasses on, which made him even more attractive.

Girl. What am I even saying?

" I thought you said I just had to submit it. It's way past my worktime to be staying here, Mr. Ashford." I replied, walking back towards his desk.

"I know, Selena. Why are you in such a hurry? Not that anyone's waiting for you." He replied back with distaste, turning towards the file in his hand.

"On the contrary, there is someone who is actually looking forward to meet me. So yes, I'd like to leave." I responded.

At the same time, my cell phone rang, Rose Nelson. She's probably at the entrance.

I looked up at Lucian, who nodded his head at me to answer the phone.

I moved aside and picked up the call.

"Hi Ms. Lockwood, I'm waiting for you at the entrance with Lyra. Are you done?" I heard her say.

"Yeah, I'm almost done. I'll be there in 5 minutes. I hope it's alright."

"Of course, don't fret about it. I'm getting coffee at the nearby cafe in the meantime."

"Oh, okay. Thank you again." I replied and hung up the call.

I kept the phone aside and sent a look towards Lucian only to find him looking at me sceptically.

"I will analyse the file today and meet with you tomorrow. You can go." He directed at me, and I couldn't be more grateful.

I acknowledged him and left the place. That went well.

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"Then he told me that blue is for boys and I told him there's nothing like that. Then he told me he loved my accent." My baby was ranting about this lucas she met today, sitting on the kitchen counter while I was preparing dinner.

Her voice came out wobbled as she was munching on a carrot.

"So, can I assume you have made friends today?" I asked her, stirring the white sauce on the pot.

"Yes, but I like to stay in London." She said with a sigh.

"Yes, mommy too." I too sighed.

"Come on now, let's have dinner by your personal chef, Selena Lockwood!" I exclaimed and served our dinner.

After our dinner, we called it a night and hopped onto the bed.

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It's been over a month since I started working under Lucian, and nothing major has happened yet, but he never failed to give me a hard time every then and now.

I was sitting on the balcony pondering over my life choices and my mistakes with my morning coffee.

Mason Martinez.

I stare at the profile I had opened up on my Instagram account.

I have been stalking him for the longest time. And for some reasons I can't explain, I couldn't bring myself to follow him.

Before worse become worst, I pressed the 'request to follow' button.

Now all I need to do is wait.

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