The next day, I tried to hide my dark circles. I was exhausted, but work was above all. I didn't spare myself with well-ironed clothes. It was beginning to be cold in the early autumn. I put on a pair of jeans and a thin sweater. A ponytail made up for my hairstyle.

I took the bus and arrived in front of the house. Elena cried when she saw my tired face. I thought that I could go unnoticed... She vociferated that I shouldn't go out to have fun until no time. It was very bad for my sleep and my body.

"I wasn't out Elena! I spoke with my parents all night. I hadn't spoken to them for years, so we had a lot to catch up... But I assure you that I can go to work in the garage."

"They are fine?" asked Alex, who came into the kitchen.

"Yes," I said, surprised by his question. "They stopped traveling while my little sister finished her studies."

"You never told me you had a sister?" exclaimed Elena.

"Well, I didn't know I had a sister before yesterday! They adopted a girl and a dog too. I look forward to seeing them and talk to them," I confessed with a smile.

"So you're going to go away?" Elena sighed softly. "Oh, I'm going to miss you! "

She rushed into my arms as Alex stared at me, frozen by the news. Could it be that he didn't want me to leave? I evacuated these ideas from my mind and answered my dear Elena.

"I don't intend to leave right away, Elena. I have to finish my three months here first, and then I'll see. Maybe it will be my parents who will come to visit me during the school holidays for example. I don't know yet, but we'll see."

My words reassured the old woman who went back to her pots and pans. I followed Alex into his garage and stayed in my little room. Days and weeks passed like this. But my relationship with Alex seemed to evolve. More looks, more touch. I granted myself more freedoms near him. More laughter. And he too let himself go in my presence. A friendship had settled.

After almost two and a half months, Elena, who was in the living room, suddenly exclaimed about the time that had passed and about my next definitive departure from this house. I saw Alex froze at the news. I bust my boiling tea sitting in a comfortable armchair. Elena was right.

"Yes, three months passed quickly," I confessed aloud.

Alex got up and walked out of the big living room silently. I looked at the door which he had passed through with sadness.

"My little Alicia, anyway, you're going to stay in the city, right? You can come back here when you want, I will welcome you with great pleasure."

"Thank you, Elena..."

"I really wonder what this idiot is waiting for to sleep with you," she grumbled.

"W-what ?!" I exclaimed, failing to make my cup fall.

"I wasn't born from the last rain, my love! You are a beautiful young woman and my little Alex a handsome young man. I see in his eyes that he would like to jump on you. But each of you has their problems and refuses to move forward. You know, Alex had loved a woman with all his heart, but she broke him as soon as he made the decision to become the owner of a garage instead of being a big entrepreneur like his brother. Maybe this woman had loved him at first, but then she was obsessed with his prestige and the fame of the family," she explained, shaking her head. "I had hoped that you would be together before the end of these three months..."

"As you said, I also had my share of problems. I was married to a man I had loved since I was a teenager. He was the man of my life," I said, thinking of my tender moments with David. "But he has deceived me and since then I have been there."

Suddenly, I heard Alex's shoes slam on the floor of the corridor. He was present from the beginning. He had heard everything. I bit my lip, embarrassed.

"You've both been hurt, don't you want to give you a chance?" Elena asked, taking my hand.

I hesitated. It was true that I wanted to move forward, without David in mind, and I got along well with Alex for now. I didn't know if it was the best idea to sleep with his ex-boss's brother, and especially to fall in love with him.

After having dinner, like almost every evening, with Elena, I went back to my apartment with questions digging other questions that I didn't have the answers.

The next day the atmosphere was different, or rather Alex was different. It seemed more tactile. More open.

However, alone in my little room, I sighed in anticipation of a call. There weren't a lot of customers. In general, they arrived unexpectedly in the garage in search of help for their car.

"'Well Alicia, you're not too bored?" Serge asked with a smile as he entered the room.

I breathed an exaggerated sigh. He burst out laughing and then told me to follow him. He started talking about his daughter, who was at a law school. I sat there listening for a part of the afternoon while having an ear on the phone in the small room.

Alex who was I don't know where came back in the garage. He looked at us strangely before telling Serge to go back to work on a car. The old man executed himself giving me a wink. I smiled and left again to my post with a quiet sigh.

I had only one more week to do. Not that the company of Serge or Elena displeased me, but the work was not so hectic. I used files to prepare at the last minute and shouting from customers through the phone.

In my thoughts, I hadn't heard Alex come in until his hand caressed my cheek. I looked up, surprised, blinking. I went to speak, but his fingers on my lips prevented me. His eyes fixed my lips before looking at me. Desire burned in his eyes.

I hesitated for a moment, but I remembered that I was no longer married. I had no restrictions. No remorse for experience. I was free after all.

After this revelation, I kissed him like I had wanted from the beginning. He didn't wait and pressed my body even closer to his. My back struck the door as he pressed one of his hands under my top. I let out a moan when his lips left mine to cover my neck with kisses.

"Young people! I don't want to bother you, but there is a customer!"

Serge's voice made me startled as Alex grunted with displeasure. I laughed, embarrassed. Our eyes met again before he whispered words to me.

"Stay here tonight. "

I nodded, then he went away. Still turned upside down by our kiss that could have gone further if Serge had not interrupted us, I bit my lip then smile like an idiot. This man really made me lose my head. I didn't know if it was a good idea to give up as easily to his advances, but I needed it. That was for the best. For the moment, it wasn't serious and he surely knew it.

Suddenly the bell rang. I picked up the device and spoke with the little professionalism that remains to me.

A woman with a shrill voice asked for Alex. I informed him that he was with a client and asked if she had a message that I could convey. After a short silence, she told me that Cécile would come to the garage tomorrow. I thanked her and hung up with more force than I wanted. The poor phone was not to blame, but this woman had crushed me with her Alex. I didn't think about it until the evening.

There, excitement guided my senses. Elena had gone home near her husband while I was staying in the large family home. The dinner continued between me and Alex.

Sitting on the sofa, my legs folded under my buttocks, I listened to him or rather complain about the few customers who were gibbering for discounts. I smiled every time his little dimples were forming. Alex didn't smile often. Most of the time he kept a closed face, inaccessible. So these little moments between us allowed me to see him differently. And I confess that to see him relax in my presence was pleasant.

After a pause, he went into the kitchen to get a beer. He offered me one which I hurried to accept. He came to sit beside me and I took several sips. I felt like it was an eternity.

"Careful, I don't want to find you vomiting somewhere," said Alex, smiling.

"Oh, don't worry. Between us, I think it would be you who would end up stuffing first, "I laughed.

"I hold alcohol very well."

"Me too," I replied gently.

"Would it be a challenge?" he said with malice in his blue eyes.

"Hmm... Maybe."

With that we laughed. He approached me, but my cell phone rang before his attempt. I apologized and took my purse on the table in front of us to search it. I saw the number of my parents and took down while getting up from the couch where I was sitting comfortably.

"My sweetheart! How are you? I don't bother you, I hope?"

"Uh," I said, turning to Alex, who leaned his head to one side. "You needed something, mom."

"Yes, actually I wanted to warn you that your husband had called us..."

"Ex-husband," I interrupted hard. "But it's impossible he called you, he doesn't know your number."

"About that, your father had given our number to him at your marriage. He's worried about you, and that's why he contacted us. Honey, is everything all right?"

"Mom, I assure you that there is a very good reason for our divorce. He has no reason to be concerned. I think I can manage on my own."

"My love, I didn't mean that. Just you could call him and tell him you're okay. You looked so much in love before..." she whispered sadly.

"I have no reason to call him. I don't have to blame myself. During all these years, I was in love with him while he..."

I bit my lip to avoid saying too much and especially to burst into tears. I no longer wanted to feel sad, to mourn over the past. This weakness I had felt in front of this man who deceived me, who had drowned our love, who had trampled on me until this divorce.

"I'm sorry, darling. Forget what I said okay?"

I wanted to answer, but arms surrounded me at that moment. I found myself engulfed in a beautiful warmth that appeased me. My back was sticking to Alex's chest. I let myself be lulled by his caresses.

"Sweetheart?"

"Y-Yes, yes, don't worry Mom. Just tell him I'm not dead if he calls you back."

"Very well," she sighed. "Well, if you have time, we should talk about your father's birthday."

"What? Now?" I asked, open-mouthed.

"I remind you that it's tomorrow, girl! You have better to prepare it for me by phone or your father will be angry with you!" She scolded me.

"But," I tried to retort, looking at Alex with big eyes.

My mother continued her lucubrations by proposing more grandiose celebrations with such expensive gifts. And I couldn't stop her.

Fortunately, Alex gave me a big smile and told me it was fine. Relieved, he took my shoulders to guide me through the steps of the spiral staircase. The cell phone still in my ear, I nodded from time to time to my mother's enthusiastic ideas.

I sat down on the bed while my lover undressed. In front of me. My mouth wide open, I shook my head quickly, not knowing at all what he was doing. He smirked at me before going to the bathroom, of course, I watched his muscular back and his firm buttocks.

"Oh my god," I said, red with desire.

"What? You don't like this idea. Yes, you are right, it's surely not extravagant enough for your father who has already seen much better."

"Oh, it's you who said it," I let myself escape when Alex came back naked before me. My gaze had immediately detonated on his chest and then lowered.

Always without abandoning his charming smile, he stretched out his arms to me to get up. I didn't know what he had in mind, but with his naked body in front of me and my mother on the phone, I was really afraid of the next.