I wake up with a thundering headache and no memory of how I got into my house or bed. Rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand, I try and fail to stifle a yawn which soon escapes me. The next few seconds has me snuggling under the duvet with no intention of leaving my comfort zone until the pounding resumes, forcing me to sit up. Another yawn threatens to escape, I stretch my limbs with my mouth wide open. 

Shifting to the edge of the bed, I palm my head to allow the wave of nausea pass and a tide of memories wash over me. I feel the same way I did the first time I got drunk at a birthday bash, maybe worse. Alcohol hasn't always been my strongest suit and I do my best to stay away from it to avoid stories that touch but last night was inevitable.

Still dressed in the black bandage gown I wore to the party-not-party, my eyes meet my reflection in the mirror and I scream in fake horror at the woman staring back at me. My fingers tentatively reach for my cheek to be sure the train wreck repeating every little gesture I make is me and I erupt into a fit of coughs. Is this how I looked going around, dancing with strangers? I groan, my eyes return to my twin image.

Her lips are stained red with a portion of the lipstick smeared around the corners of her mouth. She must have walked out the set of a goth movie because of her overly smoky eyes and smudged eyeliner which adds extra effect. Her hair, Lord have mercy. I forgot to put it in a bonnet before going to bed and now it looks like a nest.

Trying to straighten the hair only causes my head to pound even more, I rise to my feet slowly, reaching for my bedside drawer which I hope contains something for my headache. My fingers locate what I want and I heave a sigh of relief, taking the bottle of painkillers with me to the kitchen where I fetch a cup of water and pop two pills at once. I will have to make do with it for now.

By the time I reach my room, the headache has subsided and my head is clear enough for me to locate and put in place the shoes and keys I discarded in my daze last night. I spare myself another look in the mirror and cackle, I am a beautiful mess who needs sleep. My gown comes off first, I wipe my face clean of any trace of makeup, jumping into the bed in my half-naked state. This time, I make sure my hair is in a bonnet.

A phone's ringtone cuts through the air, the unmistakable voice of Jon Bellion singing a tune I am all too familiar with settles on me. I groan, my legs tangle in the sheets as I turn to retrieve the cursed device. The time displayed on my screen is all the motivation needed for the rest of the sleep to vanish.

9:40 am.

I blink. Once, twice as the day of the week written below the time comes into view and a groan escapes me. Today is Thursday, another workday. Great. We went to a fucking club on Wednesday. The reminder is enough to send my thoughts haywire, I scream into my pillow, forcing myself to leave the comforts of my beloved bed. Chi is so dead. Even more dead than she already is for leaving me all alone yesterday.

On cue, my phone rings again, speaking of the devil. I hit the answer button right as my phone goes off and my shoulders sag. I press two fingers to my temple and sigh. I am okay, I am the boss. I can handle this.

Making quick work of my bedsheet, I rush to the bathroom, calling on my former power to manifest so I can perform my fifteen minutes bathing and dressing up magic trick. I jump into the shower and yelp. The water is ice cold but the bath leaves me feeling more refreshed than the pills did and the headache almost returns when my eyes stray to the wall clock.

10:30 am. 

Who is moving the hands of the clock?

I might as well go makeup-free. My stomach growls, I let out a small scream as I stand in front of the wardrobe, hungry and angry without a clue on what to wear. I pick the first two outfits my hand comes in contact with, frowning as I hurriedly change into the black chiffon shirt and plain trouser.

The only hint of makeup on my face as I walk out my house is a swipe of the lipstick gotten from the most annoying chef I know.

*   *   *

Paul is the first person I see as soon as I step into the building and he is not alone. Chi is with him. His body bends over the counter, his laughter rings out at something Chi says and my cheeks flush in embarrassment as the events of last night which I tried so hard to suppress floods my mind without care.

I don't want to remember how desperate I looked begging him to ask me out or how stupid I must have sounded professing my love for him. Love? What is love? I scoff, the alcohol took control of my mouth, I don't love him. Well, I don't hate him but I am sure love is not the word that best describes what I feel for him. A strong attraction? Yes.

Trying not to draw attention to myself, I take slow, calculated steps in the direction of the elevator but the click-clack of my heels as they connect with the tiled floor betrays me and I freeze when Paul's eyes meet mine. I start coughing when his lips curl into a smile, he arches a brow and starts towards me, forcing me to quicken my steps. No, I'm not ready to relive or be reminded of my embarrassing moments.

"Pauline." The voice is nothing like Paul's, I stop, my eyes dart left and right to find the speaker. King Daniels comes up to meet me, a small frown dancing on his lips. "I have been calling you. Where is your phone?"

Surprise morphs into nervous laughter as his arm snakes around my waist and the answers to his questions die in my throat when he places a kiss on my cheeks. I recover quickly and grimace, King can be touchy sometimes but it's nothing I can't handle. Besides, he's a welcome distraction, he won't do anything without my consent.

From my peripheral vision, I see Paul come to an abrupt stop, his eyes wander between me and King as if rethinking his decision to approach me. His crestfallen expression as he takes step backwards almost has me calling out to him but I don't. Instead, I turn to King with a small smile and peck him.

"Hey," I murmur while pulling the phone which I managed to charge during the ride to my office out of my handbag. A tap on the screen shows the numerous missed calls, another tap shows King as the caller.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear my phone ring." He offers me his arm, I tuck my hand into the crook of his elbow as we resume walking to the lift. "What's up? What did I miss?"

It is a bit odd to be discussing casually with him after having sex, dumping his gifts and rejecting his advances but I like how it doesn't affect our interaction. Paul and Chi glare threatening to drill a hole into the back of my head has me gripping his hand with more force as we stand in front of the damn elevator that refuses to open.

"You should get this fixed," King murmurs. I nod, it is the same thought I had on my first day of resumption but it hasn't given me or the clients any issue until now.

I hit the buttons with more force, earning a chuckle from King. I pout, it's not funny. Fiddling with my pendant, my eyes dart to the counter and like I suspected, Paul and Chi have their eyes trained on us. They don't bother to hide it. Paul's gaze keeps me captive, I break the stareoff when he doesn't reciprocate the small smile I send his way.

"Pauline?"

My voice sounds faraway when I say, "Yes?"

King already has a foot inside the elevator and my hand tucked into his bent elbow is the only thing that stops me from swaying when my head jerks in his direction. "Well?" He arches a brow. "Are we going up or not?"

In response, I take a step in and King starts talking as soon as the door slides shut. "We have some investors coming in," he mutters with a frown. "I have no idea why Mr Adams asked us to meet here instead of the office." I chuckle, failing to mention that we do have a big office here; a boardroom.

His voice punctuates the silence throughout our ride up, I try to memorise the names, titles and positions of the men on the screen of the tablet he lends me. I straighten up when we reach my office floor, suddenly hit by a spell of drowsiness. The meeting is yet to start but I already feel tired. Without being told, I know today will be a long day and King proves me right with his words.

The boardroom is on the same floor as my office, I walk past my door without a glance, chuckling when King calls my attention to it. That's what he gets for talking too much when all I want is a few minutes of quiet.

"Are we having the meeting in my office?" Amusement laces my tone, he shakes his head. Of course not, my office is too small.

We resume our walk in silence and I start counting the seconds once we slip into the boardroom while King goes on to set everything up. Studying while hungry proves to be futile, I push the tablet to one side and frown, unsure if Paul will send my breakfast. Even if he wants to, I am not in the office and calling him doesn't seem like a good idea. I resign to fate and yawn.

The first set of investors arrive, all thoughts of food vanish as men in suit begin to troop in. When the meeting commences, there are twelve of us and I am the only female here.

Seconds crawl into minutes and minutes into hours. Okon and Aaron come up with light refreshments, King takes charge of the meeting, half of the discussion is lost on me. He must have noticed my tiredness because he redirects all questions fired at me with ease and I find myself mentally applauding him. Under different circumstances, we might have made for the perfect couple.

"...brings us to the end of today's meeting," King's voice breaks through my thoughts. I blink, those have to be the best words I have heard all day. "Thank you for coming."

My fingers drum onto the desk as I wait in painful silence for everyone to leave. The knots in my stomach tighten, I eye the untouched cup of beverage and small chops set in front of me with distaste. I want real food. My frustration heightens when King stops the last person from leaving, I let out a breath and clench my fists under the table.

"Pauline?"

"Yes?" My eyes meet King's, I zoned out again. A look around shows we are the only ones left, I stand and offer him a grateful smile, the meeting would have gone south if it was left to me alone. "I should get going."

"Wait," his voice is small, almost inaudible but I heard it. My hand stops on the door handle, I don't turn around. "Are you okay?" I nod. "Do you already have dinner plans?"

Taking my time to turn around, I try and fail to think up a good lie. "Yes." Liar. "No." I take a deep breath. "I don't feel too good."

"Is that why you were late?"

"Yes," I murmur, doing my best to keep the irritation out of my voice. This is the longest we have talked. "I am tired, I need to go."

He nods and steps forward. "You realise you can take the day off, right?" He raises his curled fingers to my cheek but lowers it without touching me. "You are the boss."

"Right." My head bobs up and down, I turn back to the door. "I'll do that, thank you."

Without giving him a chance to reply, I bolt out of the boardroom, not reducing my pace until I am standing in front of the elevator and eventually, on the last floor. I resume my speed walk, my feet taking me where my brain cannot register at this point.

"Where are you rushing to?" I jump, my hand goes over my chest and Paul reaches out to steady me. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." I don't know if my makeup-free face is also a reason for his question. "I'm okay."

He falls into step with me like we planned to take a walk. We proceed in silence until he asks, "Where are you going?"

"Home?"

"I will drive you."

His response has my feet forgetting how to move, I stand there with my lips puckered and brows arched, staring at him like he has grown another head. He has not mentioned last night and I am grateful for that but I don't have the strength to handle him should he have one of those his mood swings. I am tired, I need my bed and food.

There's no malice in my voice when I ask, "Shouldn't you be in the kitchen?"

Paul chuckles, my eyes follow his finger to his silver wristwatch. "My shift has ended."

"Oh." I let out a nervous laugh and look away. "It's fine, I can drive myself home."

I don't know what I expect from him but it is not a shrug neither is it compliance. We resume the journey to my car, I pat my pockets for my keys, nothing. My phone too is missing. I sigh. How can I forget my bag? Paul's voice brings me out of my reverie, I sigh again. Am I sure I want to drive in this state of mind? I can't even think straight.

Clearing my throat, I trail a line along the bonnet of my Mercedes. "I left my keys in my bag." Paul nods, I let out a small laugh, reluctant to tell him all about my stupidity.

When I don't make to continue, he places his hand over mine. My eyes scan his face and I am tempted to smoothen the wrinkles on his forehead. "Where's the bag?"

"Upstairs. In the boardroom."

The thought of going back up to get the bag fills me with so much dread, my head starts to pound. I press two fingers to my temple, almost giving in to the tiny voice in my head asking me to send him in my place. He chuckles as if reading my mind, I giggle and hide my face in my palms. He is too fine.

"Chi is still inside, she can help," Paul volunteers and I mutter a breathless thank you. He dials her number, giving me the phone to speak to her when she picks.

The call ends with a promise from Chi, my heart skips a beat at the love emoji beside her name. It's none of my business, I try to tell myself. It is not a big deal. The emoji could be a symbol of their friendship, they are best friends. Paul takes the phone from my hand to pocket it, we stand there with our backs pressed against my car, waiting.

My stomach growls. "Have you eaten?"

I wrap my arms around my stomach as if it will stop my insides from biting. If I keep up with this starvation, I will be sure to pass out soon. I nod, feeling too weak to reply. If I tell him I haven't had anything to eat since last night, I might receive a long lecture.

"Pauline." He comes to stand in front of me when I moan softly, his hand cups my chin and I lean into his touch. I have missed it. "Are you sure you are okay? You look dull."

"I'm fine. Stop asking me that," I snap and his hand drops from my face. Seconds pass, he says nothing and I mutter an apology. "I'm just tired." I frown. "Hungry and tired."

Someone clears their throat behind us, we turn to see it's Chi. Her presence dissolves some of the tension, I let out a small laugh when she wiggles her eyebrows like she caught us in the wrong act. Mischief is evident in her eyes as she hands me my bag and I can't help but wonder how long she took before announcing her presence.

"Thank you," I murmur.

She flips her invisible hair, I roll my eyes and she winks, making kiss sounds which I fake gag to. Paul shoos her, I giggle at the sad face she makes at her dismissal. After one final sweep of her invisible weaves, she eyes us from head to toe, lets out a low exaggerated hiss and walks away without a backward glance. I laugh, drama queen.