It was an ordinary day, with nothing interesting on the horizon. Outside the window, the weather was gloomy. It was going to rain. That was probably why my colleagues started leaving earlier than usual. It wasn’t even half past five, and they were already getting dressed and saying goodbye.

I looked around the empty office and snorted. Nothing scares me personally! I wanted to finish my work before the end of the day. I needed to get rid of those damn documents as soon as possible, hand them over to my boss, and go home like everyone else.

Running my fingers over the keyboard, I was completely immersed in my work, so much so that I didn’t even notice when the door opened and someone came in.

“What, has everyone left already?” I heard the voice of Khariton, another colleague of mine, forcing me to look up.

“Yes,” I couldn’t help but yawn, then stretched, and the pleasant smell of coffee, which the guy was now drinking with pleasure, tickled my nostrils. “What about me?” I made a dissatisfied face, pouting my lips.

Khariton and I were not just colleagues at work, but also good friends. At least, that’s how I see it. That’s why I didn’t feel the slightest bit embarrassed to ask this guy for anything.

“You’re such a coffee maniac,” he clicked his tongue in displeasure. “You’ve already had three or four cups today!”

“Please!” I pleaded, folding my hands in a supplicating gesture. “That’s not enough!”

“Oh, you,” he shook his head and, before leaving the office, added, “I’ll be right back, wait for me.”

I smiled and nodded. He’s a nice guy. He always does what I ask. Of course, I have to beg him, like now, but apparently that’s what he wants.

After stretching my stiff shoulders, I buried myself in my computer again, wanting to finish my work for the day as soon as possible. In general, I never like to put off important things just because I want to relax. I am a perfectionist. I always want to achieve perfection. I am probably the best at my job. I never make mistakes and I never neglect my work. That is probably why I am trusted with so much.

The final touch — I put the period — and the work is done. Now I can confidently take it to my boss. Glancing at my watch, I saw that it was almost six o’clock, which meant it was time to finish today’s shift. But my colleague still wasn’t there. Maybe he was delayed? Although there was no one else in the office except for a couple of people, so there shouldn’t be a line at the cafeteria.

After thinking it over, I decided that it wouldn’t take long to take the papers to my boss, so I could quickly return, and most likely Khariton would already be here with my coffee in his hands.

Grabbing the documents, I pushed open the door and quickly walked toward our chief executive’s office, the sound of my heels clicking on the floor.

This man, or rather this guy, since he was only twenty-six, had recently started working for the company. Despite his young age, he already skillfully managed everything and treated his subordinates fairly. To me, he was simply something else. How could a man be so smart, gallant, and handsome all at the same time? He was just perfect.

    “I’ve completed the task!” With a warm smile, I closed the door behind me and walked over to my boss’s desk, which looked… not so good.

Had he been drinking? An almost empty bottle of strong whiskey stood on the desk, with cigarettes lying right next to it. He smokes too? I didn’t expect that! I had never seen him like this before, because he had never shown his bad habits before. I thought that for him it was, so to speak, disgusting, not something natural. Well, everyone has their flaws.

“Show me,” he muttered coldly, waving his hand listlessly, as if shaking water droplets from his fingers.

He may have looked quite tired now, but he was still the same handsome man I was crazy about. I’m not in love with him, no, but I liked him very much. It wasn’t so much his appearance as his qualities and character that I liked: he is serious, but at the same time he can cheer us up, his fellow employees, with his jokes, lightening the unpleasant atmosphere at any moment and adding some color to our boring work.

Strangely enough, there were only three women working in the company, including me. The rest were all men. One was already married with two children. The second had a boyfriend, but that didn’t stop her from admiring our boss. Together with me.

I approached and handed the folder to Julian, my boss. He literally snatched the documents from my hands and, leaning back in his soft leather chair, scanned the contents.

“So what is it?” That casual phrase left me speechless. “Decided to scribble some nonsense here and go home?”

The smile on my lips vanished abruptly, and I stared at the guy in confusion. He smirked, took another sip of whiskey, and got up from his seat.

“What is this, I’m asking you!” he said harshly, raising his voice and literally throwing the folder in my face.

I looked down at the scattered papers that had fallen at my feet, trying to understand what I could have done wrong. What? I never made mistakes, never wrote, as he put it, nonsense. No. I have always worked hard, without rest, and continue to do so to this day. So what was wrong? Could it be that today I wanted to get home so badly that I even missed the mistakes? That’s strange. It just can’t be.

“Have you lost your tongue?” Julian staggered a little as he came up close to me, grabbed my chin roughly, and looked me straight in the eyes.

Stunned, I stared into those dark gray pools and swallowed, unable to look away…

We had never stood so close to each other before. Should I be happy or cry? What was going on? What was wrong with him? And why was he drinking? He never behaved like this… A flood of questions formed in my head, questions to which I was unlikely to find answers right now.

Suddenly, he pulled away, but only for a moment, to go to the door and close it… and lock it.

   “Boss, what are you…” I wanted to say something, but I was abruptly silenced without warning… with a kiss.

My eyes widened, and I froze, completely forgetting why I had come here and everything else in the world. I think I even forgot how to breathe… That’s right, he’s drunk. He’s just not himself. Right now, he’s acting completely differently, but tomorrow he’ll be back to being the Julian I know.

I pressed my hands against his chest, trying to push him away, but to my surprise, he grabbed them and squeezed them tightly, then whispered right into my ear:

“I want to punish you…” His voice held a million temptations, which caused strange sensations and feelings in me. He made me curl up into a ball.

“But for what?” I dared to ask, and in response I heard only a chuckle.

“Are you still asking?” He snorted and, cupping my face with his hands, leaned toward my lips, but I sharply pressed my palm against his lips, forcing him to freeze.

“You’re drunk. Stop it.”

I wanted to make him understand that what he was doing wasn’t quite right or sensible. I was just his employee. His subordinate. We hadn’t even really talked heart to heart. We couldn’t even call ourselves friends. To me, he was just my boss, and I was just his errand girl.

    “Stop?” He pulled away abruptly and frowned. “Is that what you want? Do I really disgust you that much?”

“No, it’s just that…” I couldn’t finish my sentence because I was silenced again. I felt his warm lips on mine. He smelled strongly of nicotine, which made me wrinkle my nose involuntarily. I don’t really like that.

His tongue slipped between my half-open lips, and I responded with a stifled moan. His long fingers had already found the buttons on my white blouse, and I… decided to give in. What was stopping me? Was it wrong? Was it because we were doing this right here, in his office? All of that became trivial in an instant.

I like him. I like him a lot. Madly. I only had one boyfriend, and we even wanted to get married at one point, but he… chose someone else. I can’t stand betrayal. I never forgive it. I was only upset that he managed to take my innocence. Maybe that’s why I’m not so afraid now that I might sleep with my own boss? I have nothing to lose anyway.

My strict office blouse flew off somewhere in an unknown direction, and the guy’s eyes immediately began to gaze at my breasts, neck, and collarbones.

“Boss…” I croaked as he leaned his entire weight on me, pressing me against the table and covering my bare skin with hot kisses.

      Lightly touching my soft skin with his fingers, he carefully unfastened the clasp on my dark bra, then moved from my collarbones to my aroused nipples, causing me to immediately arch my back toward him. My fingers dug into his dark hair and pulled him even closer.

Suddenly, Julian picked me up by my hips, lifting me into the air and sitting me down on the table. There was nothing on it except cigarettes and an empty whiskey bottle, which immediately fell to the floor with a crash. But we didn’t care.

Breathing heavily, the boss pulled away from me, but only for a moment, to take off his jacket, which had become unbearably hot. He kissed me on the lips again. Deeply, passionately, and wetly. These were no longer gentle and tender kisses.

Lifting my skirt almost to my chest, he pulled off my nylon tights, carelessly throwing them on the floor along with my shoes. I hope I don’t have to go home naked…

“Alexia…” A sharp sigh, more like a moan, escapes his lips when I slide my fingers under his shirt. He’s hot.

His clothes land where mine did, and I see his naked torso. At the sight of his strong, sexy arms, muscles, and small abs, I involuntarily swallow. I want him desperately. It seems that he has intoxicated not only himself but me as well.

      I feel the last piece of clothing leaving me. I feel his strong hands on my hips. His classic trousers have long been pulled down along with his boxers, and I carefully lift myself up, wrap my legs around his waist, and feel him slowly sink into me, giving me a pleasant feeling of fullness.

A moan escapes my lips, and I catch his lips again to taste their pleasant flavor. It’s as if the roof has been blown off my head. I no longer feel the nicotine and alcohol. I gave myself over completely to these burning caresses. The deep and smooth thrusts caused a storm of emotions in me. I wanted to scream and cry at the same time, but I only moan and breathe raggedly. A sharp pleasure pierced us from head to toe. I dig my nails into his back, pull him closer and make the distance even shorter. Now we have simply forgotten about everything. We only saw each other. Already thrusting into my body with powerful strokes, he moaned my name, biting my neck and collarbone, leaving bright bite marks. He was at his limit, as was I.

A couple more final thrusts and he came, spilling profusely onto the floor. I was breathing heavily, trying to catch my breath. However, to my surprise, the guy wasn’t going to stop there. He turned me with my back to him, pressing me against the table and bending me over.

   A fiery whirlwind ran through my veins when he touched my buttock with his hand, slowly stroking it. I didn’t mind continuing, but… it was a little unexpected. I clench my teeth, stifling a cry when he suddenly slaps my ass. Spreading my legs wider, he enters me again to the hilt and fucks me roughly, leaving burning marks on my skin and breaking the silence with the vulgar sounds of slaps.

“Whose are you?” he suddenly asks, confusing me. “Whose?!”

“Yours… I’m yours, boss!” Not noticing that I’m already addressing him informally, I moan and feel a second orgasm approaching.

I have never experienced such sensations before, but we must not forget that he is simply drunk. He is simply doing what he wants. A drunken mind can set the whole world on fire.

“You are mine, Alexia, mine…” he moans in my ear, scorching it with his hot breath. I am burning up.

I don’t know how much time has passed, but I’m sure it’s been enough for my colleague Khariton to return. Has he left? Or is he still waiting? What should I tell him? That while he was away, I decided to have sex with our boss?

Slowly getting dressed, I sat down on the sofa in the office, which stood next to the desk. Our chests rose and fell rapidly, due to the lack of air in our lungs. My bangs stuck to my skin, and my throat was mercilessly dry, tormented by thirst.

 “We’ll talk tomorrow,” my boss waved his hand before I left his office.

To be honest, I didn’t feel very good after what happened. No, I liked it, but… I was tormented by the feeling that I had been boldly taken advantage of, and now I was no longer needed. Useless.

***

It was Saturday morning, and I was disturbed early in the morning by the doorbell ringing. Sitting up in bed, I stretched and yawned. The doorbell rang again. Who could it be? My mom wasn’t home because she works early in the morning, and my dad… well, my dad moved to another city and rarely calls us. Everyone is at work. Including me. I guess hard work runs in our family. We’re just workaholics, and there’s nothing we can do about it.

Pulling on my pink bathrobe, I rushed to the door, which was no longer just ringing but literally banging!

I threw open the door and… froze in shock.

“Hi,” Julian smiled at me and handed me a bouquet of bright red roses. “How are you?”

I couldn’t even think of anything to say. I could only stare in amazement at the guest who had arrived, then at the bouquet of flowers in his hands, which he was now holding out to me with a broad smile. What brought him here?

“What, aren’t you going to say hello?” He pouted his lips comically and literally shoved the roses into my hands, pushed me into the apartment, and brazenly followed me inside.

“What are you… I mean, what are you doing here?” I mustn’t forget to observe formalities. After all, my boss is three years older than me.

    “I said we’d talk, so here I am,” he took off his shoes and looked around. “Your place is nice.”

“Do you remember what happened yesterday?” I asked, swallowing nervously, already afraid to hear the answer.

“Not everything, but…” A sly grin lit up his face. “I think I was able to confess to you after all.”

“What?”

“You know,” his voice suddenly became quiet, and he lowered his gray eyes somewhere down. “I don’t know if it was for the best or not, but… I know I got drunk as a skunk and…” He swallowed, then grabbed my hand, making me freeze. “Anyway, I’m sorry if I was rude to you, but I wanted it.”

“What?”

“You,” he wrapped his arms around my waist and immediately pulled me close, then put his hand on the back of my head and inhaled the scent of my shampoo. “Maybe it’s absurd, but… I got drunk out of love for you.”

I hurriedly pushed the guy away from me and frowned in displeasure.

“If you’ve decided to apologize to me for what happened, you don’t need to bother. I was going to quit sooner or later anyway, so you don’t need to see me…” I didn’t get to finish my sentence because he covered my mouth with his hand.

Julian shook his head in disappointment.

“Silly girl.”

“I…”

“Shut up!” he barked, making me involuntarily flinch and fall silent. “Do you think I just slept with you and that’s it? No! I like you! Do you hear me? I like you!”

I was stunned by this news. Had he come to my house not to apologize, but to confess his feelings? I really am an idiot. But how is that even possible?

“I thought I was going crazy! I wanted to get drunk, forget myself, forget you!” Why are you… like this? He grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. Why you? Every time I see you, I want to… hug you?

“Boss…” I sobbed, unable to hold back my emotions anymore. What should I do now? “Is it true?”

“Yes.”

“Do you love me?”

“Yes.”

I looked up with my dark, plum-colored eyes and saw his tender smile. It seemed that this smile had now become the meaning of my life. No, I didn’t just like him. I loved him! Could my feelings be mutual?

“Then whose are you?”

“I’m yours, boss!” I smiled and wiped away the tears that had welled up in my eyes. What a surprise to start the morning! Julian laughed and ruffled my hair, messing up my already disheveled bedhead.

“Then now, please, finally give me some tea!”

Could it be that long-distance love really does exist? Of course… because today I believed in it.