Saskia was still looking into Lionel's eyes when she realized that she seemed to be very aggressive today and should probably shift down a few gears.

She tore herself away from his gaze and got into the limo. This time she sat down in the right seat, not to have another faux pas today.

Mihai sat at the front wheel and couldn't help smiling. He had overheard everything through the open door and liked the little discussion he had overheard. It had been a long time since his boss had been so emotional. Maybe now the wishes Mihai had for his boss would come true after all. But he also knew that it would probably be a long road, Lionel was absolutely not an easy person, but he had apparently found someone equal. Mihai turned slightly backwards and looked, as best he could, at Saskia. "Would you tell me your address? Then I'll take you there," he spoke to her.

Saskia told him her address, meanwhile Lionel had also sat down on the soft leather seat next to her. Slowly they drove off, no one began to speak. Sia looked intently out the window, just so she wouldn't have to look at the lord.

Shahbandar pressed a button, thus a glass panel went up and Mihai could no longer listen in.

Again the driver started to grin, how long would it take before his boss raised the privacy screen as well? One, two months? But Mihai preferred to concentrate again on the still dense traffic in London.

Saskia noted with irritation that Lionel was raising the glass screen between them and the chauffeur.

"I hope you know that I only tolerated your outburst today as an exception?", Lionel addressed Saskia.

She was still looking out the window, but nodded in acknowledgement.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you," he suddenly murmured close to her ear.

Immediately she got goosebumps all over her body at hearing her boss's dark voice so close. She turned in his direction, he was still very close, studying her face intently. All words had left Saskia. There was only air in her head because he was so close in front of her that she could even feel his breath and his exquisite perfume rose to her nose.

For a long time, far too long, they stared at each other. Neither of them could quite place their respective feelings. Independently of each other, however, they noticed that there was something in the air, a slight crackle, if you wanted to call it that. At this point, however, neither of them wanted to admit it to themselves.

Only Mihai, who had seen the glances through the rearview mirror, knew what the near future would hopefully bring.

A sharp left turn that Mihai took with extra momentum caused the two to snap out of their stupor, as they would soon have collided.

Now Saskia finally answered Lionel's hint: "Yes, I know that my behavior was not appropriate and I will make sure that it doesn't happen again. That is, if I'm still your assistant at all." Spellbound, she looked into his face, which surprisingly showed more emotion than usual.

"But of course you are!" he exclaimed more upset than he wanted to. Lionel was starting to feel warm and he tugged at the knot of his tie, loosening it a bit. This woman was driving him crazy! He reacted more upset than he should have, actually the whole thing should have left him cold, but it did not. Taking a deep breath, he stared straight ahead before he did something he would regret.

Saskia also preferred to look out of the window again, apparently everything had been said between them for today. She still had her job, that was what she wanted, wasn't it? Torn back and forth, she continued to think about today.

Faster than they secretly wanted, they arrived at the street where Saskia lived. She was about to get out, but Lionel beat her to it and opened his door to help her out of the car again. He held out his hand again and Sia accepted the gesture.

Longer than necessary Lionel held her hand and more or less deliberately stroked her wrist with his thumb.

"Good night and see you in the morning," she said to him, averting her eyes from him and releasing her hand from his.

"Good night, Sassy*," Lionel called after her in a suggestive voice.

Saskia had heard his stupid allusion to her attitude today exactly. But she deliberately didn't react anymore, as if she hadn't noticed.

Lionel, on the other hand, grinned like he hadn't in a long time. This name fit her perfectly, he would only call her that from now on. He was already curious how long it would take until he would have driven her to fury with it.

When Lionel got in, he could still smell the delicate scent of her beguiling perfume. He was still reminiscing about "his Sassy" and how she had lain in his arms today, when the limousine had long since left London behind.

Confused about her feelings and thoughts, Saskia wearily climbed the stairs to the apartment. Unfortunately, she wasn't so lucky today and her roommate intercepted her at the entrance.

"Hey, I haven't seen you for a long time. I even looked in your room once to see if you even still live here," she bombarded Saskia before she could even take a few steps into the apartment.

"As long as you're still getting money from me for this shithole, everything must be okay, right?" she replied, pointing into the apartment.

"Now don't be in such a bad mood again! I actually wanted to ask you if you were going to party with me and a few others this weekend. You haven't been for ages!", her roommate interjected.

At first Saskia wanted to refuse, but she remembered that she actually wanted a distraction. Besides, this would be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to maybe meet someone after all.

"Ok, just tell me when and where, I'll be there," she replied with a tired undertone. Sia just wanted to go to bed and forget this day as soon as possible and leave it behind.

****

* I don't know if it makes any sense to you English speaking people that Saskia is nicknamed "Sassy". But for us this word has no sense. Only when we translate it into english it means "naughty and cheeky".

So that is the reason why he calls her like that.