Chapter 21: Chapter 21

She couldn't move. Alexis had woken up an hour ago but she couldn't move because she didn't feel like it. Because her limbs felt languid and her body.... Well, she didn't have a word to describe it. Stretching, she curled up on her side, hands on the pillow and head on top them thinking about the weekend. It had been amazing, thanks to Ray. Ray. Just the thought of his name sent her heart into a dance and heat pooling low in her stomach. Who knew what that tongue and those hands could do? Who knew what the man himself was capable of? She certainly didn't. And now that she knew, it was hard not to picture them going all the way.

She had tried being with Connor. He was a good kisser but sadly that was as far as his abilities went. The first time they'd ventured from kissing, he'd tried moving his hands to her breasts and she'd let him thinking it was okay since he was her boyfriend. But she couldn't help but feel anything. No butterflies, no quickened breathing, no desire twisting in her stomach. Maybe it was the way he breathed heavily or how clumsy his hands were, she couldn't really pinpoint the problem. All she knew is that when he tried to take it further, she had blurted out she wasn't ready. Of course, he'd been mad accusing her of leading him on, but he'd calmed down and said he was willing to wait until she was ready. A year later she'd decided she was ready so she planned everything. A room at a five-star hotel, the surprise that would be waiting for him since it was his birthday, the sexy clothes, everything.

Connor had been ecstatic. They'd eaten, danced, laughed and when things got serious, she'd whipped out her lingerie. His eyes had bugged out, then he was reaching for her, kissing her, touching her, undressing her. It was going okay and Alexis had thought she was ready. But the second she felt his fingers probing her, she'd pushed him away. His confusion had been clear on his face but she couldn't care less about making him feel better so she'd rushed to the bathroom and locked herself in. She'd felt dirty like he had violated her in some way even though he was her boyfriend. Later she told him that she wasn't ready to be intimate with him. He'd said it was okay but she couldn't help wondering if that was why he'd cheated. Her continuous refusal to sleep with him.

He was a man after all and he needed to get relief even if it was with someone else. After that, she'd done a lot of research to find out what was wrong with her. Why she couldn't be with her boyfriend like any other women out there. Marjorie had helped, and together they'd come to the conclusion that she wasn't comfortable in her skin. So they'd set out to get her out of her shell. The next time she'd gone to Connor, she had been confident all would be well. They'd gone all the way and Alexis had thought that would be the beginning of their sexual relationship. She had imagined being with Connor everywhere, even in public because they couldn't keep their hands off each other. Those dreams had gone down the drain when she'd felt him break her hymen. The pain she'd experienced had lasted all night. Connor had gotten his release then slumped on top of her not stopping once to check if she was okay. It was the first and apparently the last time they'd been together.

For a while there, Alexis had thought something was wrong with her. Why had she felt pain? Why had she felt so dirty? Those questions had plagued her for a long time. She'd asked Marjorie what her first time was like and she had been disappointed when her friend had said it was okay. There was pain but the orgasm she'd had later had overshadowed the pain. Thus begun her extensive research. She'd spent days exploring her body, trying to figure out what was wrong. The articles on Google had suggested she try masturbating. It hadn't been easy but she'd gotten the hang of it and her victory at giving herself the first orgasm made her confident. She'd found every erogenous spot on her body and in the process of discovering herself, she gained confidence. Became comfortable in her own skin.

That was after coming back from school. She hadn't tried to be with Connor again but she had been dying to see if she had overcome her 'sexual problems' as she called them. Being with Ray had proved to her that nothing was wrong with her.

How he made her feel. The way he'd sat her on his face and dipped his tongue into her, she had been ready to explode. Ready to give herself to him because she knew without a doubt he'd make her forget the first time. He wouldn't disappoint. When had she started trusting him so much? She hadn't had doubts about being with him. No second thoughts or disgust when he touched her. He made her feel safe and open around him. She had been naked while he was fully dressed and at some point, she would have felt uneasy if it was someone else. But with Ray, things just flowed, they felt right. How was that possible?

Last night he'd left, saying he had an early morning. That was after making her come so hard that her body had felt weightless. She hadn't had the energy to protest. The thought of his hands on her had her locking her knees together to contain the wave of lust that slammed into her stomach. She wished she'd told him to stay so he'd be there this morning to keep doing the things he'd done to her all weekend. She realized that she was quickly getting attached to him and she would have freaked out, except her eyes moved to the clock on her nightstand that showed her how late it was. Alexis sprung out of bed, tangling her foot in the sheets so that when she tried to move, she face planted on the floor. Thank God and her mother for the thick carpet beside her bed or she would have lost a couple of teeth. Cursing, she got up and ran to the bathroom.

By the time she arrived at the office, she was an hour and a half late. Add that to the way her clothes were thrown together carelessly, she was guaranteed to have a horrible day. As she took the elevators up, she thought about what Ray had told her. Mr. Jerkface was going to bite her head off for being late and she was going to do everything to show him she didn't care. He could treat her the way he wanted and she'd take it all without a single sarcastic remark because, in the end, she would have the last laugh. But as the lifts pinged open, all her thoughts went out the window as she took in the scene in front of her.

The office was in chaos. People were running around everywhere trying to wipe a surface or pick up some dirt on the floor. She stopped Donnie who was rushing past her. "Hey. What's going on?"

"The big boss is coming and Mr. Copeland wants the place to look spotless"

"Big boss?" so that jerk wasn't the big boss? With the way, he treated her you'd think he owned the place.

"Yeah. Also whatever you do, stay away from Copeland today. He's beyond mad that you haven't shown up yet and wants your head on a platter"

"You don't say," Alexis asked sarcastically. Maybe on second thought, she wouldn't stand by and listen to him. "Thanks, Donnie"

"No problem." he started to leave but stopped. "I like your hair down. You look really pretty" of course he had a crush on her. From the amount of blushing he was doing, Alexis thought she should let him go before he embarrassed himself or both them.

"Thank you" he nodded then left. Squaring her shoulders, she started walking towards her desk. Nothing Jerkface would say was going to ruin her day. After the epic weekend, she had just had? Her boss could eat shit for all she cared. A few feet away from her desk, the door to Mr. Copeland's office was yanked open. It was Bella and from the looks of it, she wasn't happy. She took one at her then yelled to Jerkface "Your secretary is here"

"Good morning Beth," Alexis said smiling.

"Let's see how long you'll keep that smile on your face" she bit out walking away.

"Until the end" she murmured knocking on the door. An immediate 'come in' wasn't a good sign but she entered anyway. "Good morning sir"

"It is isn't it" he got up from behind his desk and walked towards her. "For people who can come in whenever they feel like, I'm sure it's a good morning. Tell me something Miss Barret, do you think you're special?"

"No sir"

"Good. At least you know that. For the time you were late, you're going to scrub the bathrooms. Maybe next time that'll wake you up early"

Alexis blinked behind the glasses "What?"

"Scrub the toilets. I want them sparkling clean. If that is too much for you, you can pack your things and leave. It's your choice really"

The Jerk. He wasn't even smiling or gloating. He was dead serious about firing her. She contemplated leaving for a second. Now that she'd moved out, Jayden wouldn't know she quit. She could stay at her apartment for the next three weeks then go home and rub it in his face. Only that wasn't her. She wasn't the kind of person who lied. Her conscience wouldn't let her. She also wasn't a quitter. "Okay sir"

Now it was his turn to blink. "Okay?"

"Yeah. I'll scrub the toilets," she told him leaving. It's not like they were dirty. The bathrooms were pretty clean on their floor thanks to the cleaning staff. She would just flush them and spend the rest of the time in there by herself. This was her, making lemonades out of the lemons life just threw her way. She skipped to the bathroom or tried to. Two steps and she realized Jerkface was behind her.

"Oh. You thought I'd let you work unsupervised? Keep walking miss Barret. You've already wasted a lot of time"

And she crashed back down. Of course, he'd stand there and watch her. How she was going to enjoy taking everything from him. That was the only thought that kept her moving. As she scrubbed every inch of the lady's bathroom and moved on to the men's room, she thought of how she would humiliate this asshole in front of everyone. In the office and the country. Making her clean the men's bathroom was the last straw for her. By the time she was done with Duke Copeland, he was going to wish he never laid eyes on her. "I'm not satisfied with this one" he pointed to one of the stalls where they urinated. "Clean it again"

"Yes sir," Alexis said holding back tears of frustration. There was nothing wrong with cleaning the toilets. It was a decent job albeit disgusting but still decent. It was the way Jerkface stood there directing her every move with a smile on his face that made her want to drown him in one of the said toilets. He was enjoying it. Making her do this while he watched. By the time she was done, her patience had run out. And everyone knew that judging from the way they moved aside to let her pass. She saw Anna try to talk to her but Donnie stopped her with a shake of his head.

"Coffee miss Barret," Jerkface told her over his shoulder, banging the door close. Breathing through her teeth, she went to the kitchen. Thank goodness it was empty because she needed to calm down. She was on the verge of doing something stupid out of anger. As she waited for the coffee to be ready, she thought of the only thing that made her forget everything else. Ray. And how he'd called her his Princess. His kisses and caresses calmed her down, making warmth spread all over her body. Her mother had been right. It was so easy to go from dislike to like. In the past, the thought of Ray would have irritated her. Now it calmed her down. Gave her goosebumps all over.

"Hey, stop daydreaming. The boss is here" Anna said rushing to the kitchen.

"Good for him" she snapped, irritated that her thoughts were interrupted.

"Alexa, they're waiting for coffee. You know, the one Mr. Copeland told you to make?"

"Great. Doesn't he have his own secretary? Jerk..... Mr. Copeland is annoying enough. I don't need someone else to order me around"

"Well too bad for you because you're their secretary. Since the boss isn't here much, they share a secretary. It doesn't make sense to hire one for him when he's barely here. Didn't they tell you that down at HR?"

HR? She didn't go through HR. Vince took care of everything and told her to go straight to work. "Yes, they did. I just forgot. I better take them their coffee before they decide to make me scrub the bathrooms again."

Anna winced. "About that...."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it"

"I would have helped if Mr. Copeland wasn't supervising you"

Alexis swallowed down the emotions threatening to bubble up to the surface. It was touching how she'd gained a loyal friend in just one week. Normally people wanted to befriend her because she was a Rutherford. But Anna didn't know who she was. To her, they were the underdogs of the office so her friendship was genuine. "Thank you, Anna. That means a lot"

"You're welcome. Now come on. Let's go. I'll help you carry the cups"

"Thanks"

"I'm not doing this for you. The other boss is like really hot and nice. I hope he likes you so Copeland can shove it where the sun doesn't shine."

"Who is he? The other boss?"

"Sexy. I think you'll fall in love with him just like the rest of us. He's so dreamy girl."

"Anna, please don't drop the cup..."

"There. Do you see him?" Anna pointed to a man talking to Jerkface. His back was to her so she didn't see his face but she couldn't stop herself from admiring his back. The thickly muscled legs were covered by a navy blue pantsuit that fit them to perfection. Alexis ran her eyes up his legs and back. He wasn't so bad looking. Maybe his attitude wouldn't be identical to Jerkface.

As they approached the two men, Jerkface motioned to her and they turned around to face her. Alexis dropped the cup of coffee she was holding. Anna jumped aside so the hot drink wouldn't burn her but since she was so busy glaring at the two men, she didn't feel it even when some of it splattered to her leg. She was confused, shocked, angry but most of all she felt betrayed.

"Ray" Alexis whispered deciding to concentrate on her anger. That would distract her from the pain in her chest.

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*sips tea waiting for the comments to roll in*