I lay down next to Michael after wiping his body down, but I couldn’t seem to fall asleep as a bunch of thoughts kept running through my mind. Why does he keep me around if he’s sleeping with other women? Does he enjoy having multiple f*ck buddies or something?
The thoughts refused to leave my head no matter how much I tossed and turned in bed. At some point, I even felt the urge to wake him up and question him about what he did and who he was with earlier that night. However, I held myself back as I knew it wasn’t my place to do so.
I got out of bed very early the next morning as I could barely sleep at all due to the perfume and lipstick.
I knew I couldn’t possibly be the only woman Michael has slept with, but what I didn’t know was when my feelings toward him began to change.
Having taken a shower after sobering up, Michael emerged from the bedroom dressed in a robe and was just in time for breakfast.
“I had a bit too much to drink last night,” he said coldly as he sat down at the table.
“Yeah,” I mumbled coolly in response and carried on eating without saying another word.
I had wanted to ask him all about last night, but I held myself back as I knew it wasn’t my place to do so.
Michael looked up at me and frowned, seemingly displeased with my response.
“That’s it?”
“What else am I supposed to say?” I asked coldly as I stared back at him.
I’ve made up my mind last night… I’m going to keep my distance from Michael so I won’t end up falling in love with him! We are merely f*ck buddies, and our relationship will be limited to what we do in bed.
“I’ll drive you to the office later.”
Michael changed the topic after shooting me an unhappy glance.
“No need. I’ll take the subway.”
Keeping my distance is a must to stop myself from catching feelings for him. While I can’t do much about it during our time in bed, I should at least avoid being around him as much as possible during the day.
Michael frowned angrily when he noticed my dissatisfaction toward him. “What’s with that attitude of yours, Anna?”
“Do let me know in advance if you’ve found yourself another woman, Mr. Shaw,” I said ambiguously before making my way toward the bedroom.
After changing into formal attire, I left the house in a hurry as I didn’t want to spend another second around Michael.
The frown on his face deepened, and there was a look of anger in his eyes as he watched me leave.
Although I was the first to leave the house, taking the subway was a lot slower than driving. As such, Michael had already arrived at the office before I did. He was making his way back to his office when he saw me come in, but all he did was shoot me a cold glance in response.
I thought he would try to make things difficult for me at work, but he never once set foot into my office the entire morning. It came as quite a surprise for me, albeit a rather pleasant one.
After lunch, I was the first to return to work. Michael came out of his office and looked straight at me as he said, “I want you to join me in the conference room later to discuss business with Benyx Corporation, so get the documents ready.”
His tone was completely formal and void of emotion.
“Me? I don’t think that’s very appropriate…”
I stared at Michael in confusion as there was no one else around me at the time.
“This is work, so how is it inappropriate?”
Although I hadn’t been direct about it, Michael could tell that I was refusing his request and got angry immediately.
“Got it, I’ll start preparing for it right away.”
I couldn’t tell if he was being mad at me on purpose for what happened during breakfast earlier, but I decided to do as told anyway.
After all, he was the CEO, and getting on his bad side would only result in me losing my job.
Michael returned to his office when he saw me begin the preparations, and I shot him a fierce glare while cursing at him in my head.
All of my colleagues in the department stared at me in envy when I went into the conference room with Michael later that afternoon.
The look in their eyes showed how much they wanted to be in my position, and I realized I was the only person who actually wanted to stay away from Michael.
The two of us entered the elevator, and he pinned me against the wall the moment the doors closed.
He seemed extremely displeased as he stared me down and asked, “What the hell is wrong with you today?”
“What do you mean, Mr. Shaw? I think I’m perfectly normal today.”
Of course, I knew exactly what he meant and was simply playing dumb to keep my distance.
“You’ve been awfully cold to me since morning, and you call that normal?”
Michael narrowed his eyes which were filled with anger and frustration.
“You’re probably just overthinking it. This is how I usually am.”
I felt my heart race and tried to avoid his penetrating gaze in my state of panic.
“Stop testing my patience, Anna!”
Michael inched closer toward me and placed both arms on the wall beside me, trapping me in his embrace.
I pushed hard against his chest to keep him from getting any closer as I blurted nervously, “We’re in an elevator, Michael! People might see us!”
“I don’t need you to remind me of our relationship!”
My protests only seemed to anger him even further, and I panicked in the face of his domineering aura.
