Cover by @brostah. Thank you! I totally love it! :D

I got up early for breakfast and cooked something to eat. After frying the eggs, I placed it neatly on the dining table. I cleaned the pan and dishes that I used for cooking and placed them back on the cabinets below. When I saw that I had nothing more to do, I turned around and walked towards the end of the hallway. I knocked on the door twice before opening it.

"Dad, breakfast is ready. You should get up and drink your medicine," I called softly, sticking my head out from the door.

He slightly rolled on his bed and groaned. "I'm up. I'm up," he mumbled sleepily.

After his reply, I stepped out and closed the door lightly. I knew he would get up in half an hour which was why I always wake him half an hour early. When he came out of his room, we ate our breakfast together silently. After I had finished, I give him a quick kiss on the forehead before I headed out to work.

On the way there, the bus stopped on the street near my old apartment. It made me miss the old place. William talked to me about not moving out of that apartment for our new one. He was really against it, but it wasn't his decision to make.

When I reached the company building of FACE magazine, I felt paranoid. I felt like that every time I go to work. Maybe one day, paparazzi would swarm the entrance asking me about my relationship with William. I didn't know if I'm ready for it again. I entered the lobby and quickly walked towards the elevator. I entered the lift and pressed the call button for my floor.

The creative department was located on the fifth floor of the building. It's consisted of cubicles for the graphic designer, illustrator, layout artist, typographer, and all designers for the magazine. Our creative head, Allison Coleman, used to be my neighbor at my old apartment. She was one of the reasons why people who knew about my relationship with William didn't leak it on social media — which was quite ironic considering the company I'm working for.

As I sat in my cubicle, Sydney, who seats beside me, greeted me enthusiastically. "Hey! Andy, how did the weekend go?"

"It went well, but we didn't go anywhere like last week," I replied bleakly with a smirk on my face.

"Well, even rich people don't always go to the Caribbean for the weekend," she stated with a chuckle.

Sydney Clark is an illustrator and my cubicle neighbor. We properly met the next day after my encounter with William. So on the first day we met, she was oblivious to the fact that I dated a well-known bachelor. When she did know, she didn't give me the same cold shoulder approach as the rest of my female co-workers. She was the only person who was sane enough to have the same — well, used to be — thoughts on William Maxwell. She was one of those few girls who could get past a man's physical attractiveness without batting an eye.

After the photoshoot with William, some of the camera crew gossiped about what happened to William and me. Thankfully, the gossip didn't get out of the department since Allison had heard and contained the situation. Now, I get a few humiliating insults and comments from other female employees — since, obviously, almost every one of them had a thing for William.

It was awkward at first, but Sydney and Allison's support kept me from quitting this job, and I love what I have been doing. It's in my field, and I got to be creative again.

Around lunch, Sydney and I decided to venture out to the city rather than eat at our usual fast-food joint a few blocks from our workplace. We took a short bus ride to a small Asian Cuisine. Sydney knew about this place from a friend who worked close from here. This was also the reason we came here, to meet her friend.

When we entered the restaurant, Sydney quickly scanned the place and smiled as she saw a slightly rugged-looking guy seating at a small booth across the room. I eyed the man for a second before following Sydney, who had quickly made her way towards him.

"Evan! Hey!" Sydney sat down beside him and gave him a hug which he quickly reciprocates.

I stood there across them, eyeing both seriously. I'm contemplating whether the guy was her boyfriend or not.

"Sydney, it's been a while," the guy said as he let her go. He didn't notice me standing behind Sydney. "How are things in the fashion world?"

"I'm doing fine, and I'm still not complaining that I don't get free access to any A-list events. A desk job is fine by me," she replied empathically like she already answered this question before. "Oh! I almost forgot..." she added and paused in realization as she turned towards me.

I cleared my throat and shyly slide down on the empty couch across from them. "Hi," I mumbled in greeting as I gave a brief wave.

"This is the new girl I told you about. Evan, meet my good friend Andy," Sydney interjected as she settled down on her seat, gesturing a hand towards me. "Andy, this is Evan, my only male friend who doesn't want anything from me but friendship." She turned her hand to Evan and glanced at him with a sly grin.

"If you are still hurt about the fact that I didn't sleep with you, then you should stop calling me every other day, asking me out to go to lunch or party," he remarked grimly, but there was a teasing glint in his eyes.

I studied them for a second as I tried to make out their body language. What are they trying to point out here?

"She looks confused now, Syd," Evan stated as he looked at me, giving me a flirty wink.

Sydney looked at me and laughed at my expression. "I'm sorry about our weirdness. Evan and I may look like a couple, from the touchy-feely relationship we have, but we never went there or try to be in a relationship with each other. We are comfortable being friends. I mean, it's not difficult to be friends with the opposite sex without sleeping with them," Sydney said with a smirk.

"To make it less confusing, our parents are married to each other," Evan added with an apologetic smile.

"Evan! You shouldn't give in fast. It would have been more fun to let her wonder about it a little longer." Sydney lightly punched him on the arm but stopped as the waiter approached us.

"You're siblings?" I asked as I digest that information.

"Yes. I'm sorry for leading you on like that. Syd likes to do this skit whenever she introduces me to a new friend of hers, and you might be the one who reacted the least," Evan replied, looking at me like he was impressed.

"I already thought that she wouldn't take the bullshit, Evan. Andy is pretty tough on being lied, too." Sydney stated after she told the waiter her order and looked at me proudly. "I'm glad that Allison put her as my new cubicle partner," she added with a wink.

"Glad to know you are making friends now," Evan chuckled beside her as he looked at Sydney and me.

"From what I heard, she doesn't have much at work. What would you become if I hadn't accepted this job?" I played along and smirked at the rhetorical question.

"Oh, I go by just fine. I'm still here, aren't I? Besides, those snobby bitches aren't really worth my time." Sydney did a hair flip and dismissed the topic.

"So, how do you like working with my little sister?" Evan asked, shifting the conversation to me.

"It's fun," I replied briefly, eying Sydney with amusement.

"What do you do?"

"I'm a layout artist."

"Really. What does a layout artist do?" he asked continually in interest, his arm resting on the table between us.

"I can't believe you are flirting with my new friend in front of me. She is not single and completely taken by a man beyond your standards," Sydney suddenly interjected, breaking an eye-to-eye contact I didn't notice I was in.

I couldn't help but blush as I looked away from him. What the hell?

"I wasn't flirting. I was asking her some questions," Evan defended as he leaned away from me.

"Whatever, Romeo." Sydney rolled her eyes at her brother and turned to me, starting a new conversation about work. In my peripheral vision, I saw Evan's face slightly fall in disappointment. But I didn't read much into it.

After our lunch, we said our goodbye and separated ways on the bus stop. Evan was very friendly throughout the meal, and he kept the conversation flowing between the three of us, but from time to time, he would ask me some personal questions. The questions were relevant to what we were talking about, though, so I didn't think much about it.

When we got back to the company, we couldn't chat much as work became the center of our attention. I got out of the office on time that afternoon as I have finished my job for the day. Sydney wasn't as fortunate as me. She remained on her desk, finishing up a few things. I gave her a brief hug as a goodbye before leaving.

My phone suddenly ringed as I got down to the lobby,. I glanced around the slightly busy lobby, knowing that it wasn't the right place to answer a call. People were getting out of their offices and out of the building. Thus, I left the phone into voice mail and decided to answer when I got into the bus.

The ringing stopped as I exited the building. I let out a sigh of relief and took a deep breath as I marched on towards the direction of the bus. As I looked up, I stopped dead on my tracks when my eyes zoned in on a familiar black SUV. You've got to be kidding me?

When the back passenger door opened, William got out, looking as much as a mogul man as I last saw him. He was wearing a gray three-piece suit and black tie and shoes. Since we started going out, William rarely wears dark clothing like when I first met him. I didn't know whether it was based on his mood or something. I wanted to ask him about it sometime in the future.

"What are you doing here?" I grumbled as I quickly made my way towards him.

"I came to pick you up. Why didn't you answer my call?" he replied and countered in the same tone.

I eyed him deadly, not wanting to give him my reply. I know he would get pissed if I told him the answer to his question. I made a quick assessment of our surrounding, looking if there are any bystanders watching us. I let out a sigh of relief when there wasn't anyone looking in our direction. I gave him a light shove back towards the still opened car door.

"Get in, now," I instructed grimly.

"You don't have to be so rough. You could always ask me to get in nicely," William mumbled in annoyance as he got back in the car.

When I got inside, I quickly closed the door behind me and looked out of the tinted window, eyeing anyone who might have noticed us. I let out another sigh of relief when there wasn't anyone.

"Why are you so paranoid if someone spotted us? Don't you trust me to handle it?" he asked after I leaned back on the leather chair, looking relaxed.

I looked at him like he wasn't taking the situation seriously. "It's not that I don't trust you. I just don't like being in that situation again. Well, for now at least..." I replied with a snort and trailed off with a sigh.

William looked at me silently for a second, like he was assessing my reply. Then, he gave me a brief nod before getting his phone out of his pocket. After that, he became a little occupied with his phone as Mark drove us back to my place.

I leaned back on my seat, trying to take advantage of the peace. I closed my eyes and allowed me to take a short nap on the ride back. I didn't know I had dozed off until I felt someone shook me. I blinked my eyes a couple of times before I could make out a face in front of me. Startled, I quickly move away, but I wasn't able to get a good distance from the face.

"Do I look that awful up-close?" William asked with a chuckle, his voice low as a whisper.

"Yup," I replied, dragging out the word more than necessary. I reached up to my right hand and caress his right cheek. "You have dry skin these days. It looks like I'm looking at a desert," I added teasingly, chuckling at my bad joke.

"You don't look good yourself," he countered as he placed a hand on my forehead and caressed it down to my chin, tilting my head up. "You have wrinkles beside those hazelnut eyes of yours," he added with a smirk.

"No. I don't," I grumbled in defense, eyeing him playfully in challenge.

"Okay. I was exaggerating, but I don't have a desert face," he blurted out as the last defense.

"I know. I wouldn't be touching you if it was..." I admitted softly, giving him a small smile.

"Yup! There is a wrinkle. I forgot it only appears when you smile," he pointed out and laughed as he cupped my face. "But I like it," he added in between breaths before he kissed me.

His lips were warm and soft, like how I remembered it the last time he kissed me. Does it always feel that way when you kiss someone you like? I don't remember it being this good from the last relationship I had. His kisses were better, much, much better.

When we moved away from each other to catch our breath, I let out a chuckle. After being together for a few weeks, I started to soften and be less tough on him. If he continues to be like this when we have our moments, what would happen to my poor heart?

"Let's go inside. I think your father is looking out of the window again. He would get suspicious if we stayed here long, and I feel bad for asking Mark to step out of the car," he said with more volume, snapping me out of our bubble.

"Let's get out of here then." I lightly pushed him towards the door, giving him a sly grin. "I'm hungry anyway, and I need to cook myself something to eat," I added, looking grim as I thought about it.

"How about we all eat out tonight?" William suggested.

I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "How long have you waited to ask this question?"

"Awhile," he admitted with a shy smile.

"I'll go up and ask Dad to dress up. You wait here with Mark. I will be back," I instructed in defeat as I opened the door on my side.

"Got it." He gave me a huge grin before I closed the door.

I couldn't believe he sweet-talked me into havingdinner with him and my father tonight. He had wanted to ask my father to havedinner with us, but the old man always refused to interfere with our datenight. I think he would agree because, for one, I haven't cooked anything sincethis morning, and my father was known for his lack of cooking skills. That wasthe reason I was good at it— well, barely good. I'm no master chef.