Getting things wrapped up, and in order in time for the retreat was exhausting. I had arrived back in California on Sunday night and had to get up early to go to work the very next morning. It wasn't necessarily an ideal situation, but then again, life had never really been an ideal situation for me.

Throughout the week, various important-looking people came in and out of Miss Rose's office, I barely even saw her one on one. However, I knew she would be unavoidable once the weekend drew by and I was excited but extremely anxious at the same time.

"Muna."

I suddenly looked up from my computer screen to see Miss Rose standing at her door.

"I hope everything is in order for the retreat."

She was dressed in a denim suit; she had taken off her blazer revealing a short-sleeved button-up shirt, her tattoos were on full display.

I snatched my eyes away from her arms to meet Miss Rose's intense eyes, "yes."

"Good. I need you to work a little later today to do some last-minute arrangements with Alice."

I nodded my head, dreading having to spend even another second with Alice Ross. Frankly, I had been happy that I had not seen as much of her in the past few weeks that I had been here.

Nevertheless, at 5pm I went looking for Alice Ross. We ran through the last minute meetings, scheduling appointments to the week after the retreat and other preparations. I photocopied the schedule for the retreat and sorted them into files, one for each person.

"Take these files up to Miss Rose's office," Alice Ross ordered as she dumped a stack of papers in my hands, "you can go home afterwards."

I took off with the stack of papers in my hands. The rooms were basically empty as most people had gone home; it was past 6 by now. In the now quiet building, my heels echoed against the floor as I walked. I tried to concentrate on keeping the files from falling out of arms that were aching terribly. I pressed the elevator button and the doors quietly slid open.

I got off on the top floor and headed towards Miss Rose's office. I figured she had already left for home and pushed her door open, using my elbows without bothering to knock. I was frozen in complete terror once I saw what was beyond Miss Rose's door.

I stood gaping at the sight of Miss Rose standing there with her fingers deep in Caroline. Caroline herself was sprawled out across Miss Rose's table with her legs wide open. Her blouse buttons were undone and her boobs were hanging completely out. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't rip my eyes out from the scene before me, and just stood there, my mouth opening and closing without making any sounds.

"Muna."

It was Miss Rose. She had noticed me and swiftly retracted her fingers from inside of Caroline. She was now standing awkwardly beside Caroline, who had now sat up and had slowly begun to button her shirt back up.

'Um, what's up?" Miss Rose asked, scratching the back of her head awkwardly. I had never seen Miss Rose look so uncomfortable before, her usual 'in control' demeanor was nowhere to be seen. I could tell she felt really embarrassed.

What's up?

Your fingers in Caroline's pussy, Miss.

"I just came to drop some files." I said instead, shocked at how smooth my voice came out, "I'd just leave these here."

My heart was beating really fast in my chest and I thoroughly wished I had not just witnessed what I did. I bent down and carefully placed the stack of papers on the floor in front of the door. Without another word, I turned around to leave, but not before catching sight of Caroline and the smirk of satisfaction hanging from her face.

"What the fuck am I meant to do with you? What are you good for?"

I stood there staring ahead, my face was neutral to mask the turbulence of emotions going on within me.

"You are absolutely useless."

The words felt like daggers and I tried desperately to swallow the lump in my throat.

What is wrong with me? Surely, there has to be something wrong with me? Why else would my own parents say so? Why else would I feel this sort of attraction? There was nothing that could 'cure' me. I had tried everything.

"Pack your things and leave. You're a disgrace!"

I looked into my mother's dark eyes; they were void of anything; I felt like I was floating, dreaming. I felt this coming, but I hadn't yet prepared myself. You could never prepare yourself for anything, for the feeling of betrayal and rejection brought about by your own parents choosing not to love you anymore.

I sat up in bed, drenched in sweat. It had been a while since that memory had resurfaced; I had pushed it back the past few years. Suddenly I was having dreams of the very night.

My room was dark as I got up and began feeling my way towards the light switch. I walked into my kitchen and poured myself a glass of water before glancing at my watch at 5:45.

My years of low self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness stayed etched in my brain. Every now and again it seemed to seep out, I sighed and took a gulp of water.

Fuck, of course I was running late.

Having to rely on public transport to get me from place to place was not ideal, but what was I to do? I'm that twenty-something year old person who everybody knows that never learnt how to drive. I stood on the bus impatiently tapping my feet. The scenery for today was a middle-age woman with her child who was throwing a tantrum. The bus pulled to a jerking stop and rolling my small suitcase behind me; I got off; the doors screeching as they shut behind me.

"I'm here!" I yelled as soon as I got unto the Coach, taking us to the retreat, "Muna Johnson, PA."

There was a man standing up front who took out a pen and crossed my name off the list as I heaved a sigh. Everyone else either not so much as glanced at me or just rolled their eyes and went back to whatever they were doing... all except Miss Rose and Javier.

Miss Rose was seated along the front. There was a free seat next to her, and she was staring at me with her intense green eyes. It made the hairs at the back of my neck stand at alert.

Today she was dressed casually, a gold chain on top of a plan white shirt, her beautiful tattoos gleaming in sunlight streaming through the windows and patterned black trousers. As usual, topped off with trainers, today they were black Nike Air Forces.

Javier, on the other hand, was seated in the back of the bus. It was only him sitting there, so there were a lot of free spaces. He was waving enthusiastically at me.

Well.

I walked past Miss Rose trying to avoid her eyes and made my way towards Javier. I was going to be sharing a cabin with her for the whole of that weekend, so it wouldn't be a big deal if she missed me for a few hours on the bus trip. Besides, I still had not fully recovered from seeing her with Caroline the other day.

I felt my neck heat up at the idea of sharing a cabin with Miss Rose. I quickly pushed that thought to the back of my mind.

"Hey," I said, smiling at Javier as I plopped down next to him.

"Muna, we're here."

I raised my head slowly from Javier's shoulder. We had been driving for hours with one break stop along the way. At some point I had fallen asleep.

It was now dark out and we were in what looked like the middle of nowhere, surrounded with nothing but trees. I could hear the sound of crickets, and I mentally gave myself a tap on the back for remembering to bring my bug repellant.

Up ahead, the others were slowly making their way off the bus. We had all been instructed to bring along a packed dinner as it was going to be late by the time we arrived. Now all that was left was for us to find our cabins, settle down, and go to bed.

"Welcome to home for the next few days," Javier said as he took his hair out of the bun at the back of his head and leaned back in his seat.

"Muna."

I could recognize that lovely accent anywhere.

I locked eyes with Miss Rose and I felt my heart quicken, I immediately remembered that I was about to share a cabin with her. Shit.

"Guess I'd see you tomorrow then.." Javier said from behind as he caught site of Miss Rose up ahead.

"Good night," I said, turning round and giving him a small smile as I followed Miss Rose as she stepped off the bus into the night air.

I retrieved my suitcase from the trunk of the coach and began walking towards Miss Rose, I could barely see her in the dark, just the outline of her body and her short hair falling into her eyes.

"Um, hi." I squeaked once I came face to face with her. My awkwardness was eating me up.

"Hey. Stay close."

Miss Rose suddenly intertwined her fingers with mine and began walking. I moved my legs quickly, trying to keep up with her long strides rather than focusing on the heat rising within my chest.

It was clear Miss Rose was familiar with this area from the way she intertwined between the trees. In the dim lights I noticed a few other people moving around which I didn't recognize, they were probably from the other corporations.

"Here we are."

We were standing outside a small wooden cabin. Miss Rose pushed open the hardwood door, revealing a nicely furnished suit. There were two beds, with a small space between each other and paintings of nature and wildlife. There was a zebra striped rug spread out across the floor, which I hoped was fake. Through a wooden door was a small bathroom-it was simple with a toilet and a shower.

"Welcome to home for the weekend." Miss Rose murmured reiterating the words Javier had said earlier.

I watched as she lay her suitcase on the bed closer to the cabin door and instantly guessed that action meant that was her bed; she had just marked her territory. I began to make my way to the bed further into the cabin.

"By the way," Miss Rose said as she turned to look at me. Our eyes locked. "I wanted to apologize for the other day, I didn't mean for you to see that. I'm sorry."

I'm sorry too.

Against my better judgement, I had replayed the memory of Miss Rose and Caroline so many times in my mind. It hurt me to think about it, but I guess I deserved that. This was the wake-up call that I needed, Miss Rose was my boss and the sooner I got over my stupid crush, the better. I gulped awkwardly and stared at the floor before bringing my eyes up to meet Miss Rose's. The way she looked at me, I had to remind myself that even though she was basically my age; she was still my boss. Our relationship-strictly professional. Besides, as the other day showed, she has Caroline. Long-haired, model-bodied Caroline.

I put a smile on my face, "It's okay, Miss Rose. It was my fault for not knocking."

Miss Rose smiled at me, it was a sad sort of smile and it hurt my heart just seeing it, "we should prepare for bed, Muna. We have a big weekend ahead of us."