"Explain." Lea stood in front of me, blocking my sight from the TV with both her hands on her hips.

I looked up at her. "Huh?"

Lea huffed and threw herself next to me. Her bloodshot eyes were evidence of not enough sleep, but she got out of bed anyway, fixed her coffee, and made her way to the living room, demanding an explanation.

"I know we haven't got to talk much lately because of all this moving preparation, but I learned from Gary last night that Blake taking you home last Saturday was something that had been planned. So, I want to hear what is going on from you."

Garry told Lea? So much for being a neat guy. I scoffed inwardly.

I grabbed the remote control and pressed the pause button. Sighing, I turned to her and gave her my full attention. "So, remember the day I came to Bailey's getting drunk? The day I learned about my dad and Katherine?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"So, basically Blake helped hide me from Dean. We ran to the back of the bar, and then I kissed him." When Lea's sleepy eyes switched to fully alert, I quickly added, "I was drunk. And Blake was well... He's hot. Let's say I wasn't in the right mind that day. So we were trying to straighten up the twisting, unnecessary situation between us since" — I cleared my throat — "Blake is practically a professor in my faculty."

"Huh?"

"Blake works at a university. You know that, right?"

"I guess so. But wait," Lea said, shaking her head. "That dude is your professor?"

"Kinda. He's more supporting the laboratory activity and the assessment center, but yeah, he was our professor." I nodded and winced at the same time. "He was the guy who helped me out with the weird drawings."

"What?" Lea squealed before bursting into laughter. "Holy shit! Oh, my god!" She cackled again. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I don't, Lee. What all the shit going on with my parents and Dean's, and the fact that kissing my professor is basically forbidden, I was just so full in the head."

Instead of looking hurt for being left out, Lea sighed and smiled at me. "I know." She took my hand in hers. "We all deal with our shit at our own pace, after all."

"And you're a bit tense lately with this job transfer thing. I just don't want to make you worry."

Lea's soft gaze turned weary. "Did he take advantage of you?"

"No." I shook my head. "I started it. He was hesitant at first, and then it happened."

"You were drinking, and he was sober. He shouldn't have kissed you back, should he?"

"That's what he said, too." I shrugged. "So, anyway, we talked about it that morning and agreed that it should never happen again."

Lea stared at the paused scene on the TV screen, busy with her thoughts. "Do you like him?"

I pursed my lips, thinking about the answer to Lea's question. "I don't know him enough to say I like him, but I'm attracted to him, yeah." I groaned. "I need to get him out of my system, Lee. Maybe I'll just hit Tinder and get a good shag."

She scoffed. "Like you're into a one-night stand. Good luck with that."

"The thing is..." I bit my lower lip. "He offered me a job at the faculty, and bumping into him is a kind of inevitable."

"Oh?"

"It's a receptionist's job at the Assessment Center, and Blake is one of the assessors."

"It sounds like a Monday to Friday kind of job. What about your final project?"

"I believe I can manage. Blake texted me last night, telling me to come later today to meet the person in charge. I guess I will know more later."

Lea raised one eyebrow, scrunching her nose. "Wait, he got you this job after you two agreed that the kiss couldn't happen again?"

"Yeah."

Lea shook her head as she chuckled. "Man, this is getting interesting."

"There will be no office romance like the boss doing the secretary in a hidden photocopy room, if that's what you have in your perverted mind," I said, laughing. "I will be staying at the Assessment office. He'll be in his room, somewhere on the other side of the building, or he's teaching classes. If he shows up, it will be strictly clients related."

The coffee machine spat a gurgling noise, indicating it was almost done brewing. Lea propped herself up with a groan before disappearing into the kitchen.

She was partly right, though. Blake getting me this job was somewhat contradicting what we had agreed. Wouldn't it raise the chance for us to bump into each other even more? If we needed to keep our distance, wasn't it better to just go cold turkey?

It's purely work-related, Jen, and no alcohol involved. Get your mind out of the gutter.

"Was he good, by the way?" Lea asked as she sauntered back to the couch with a mug in her hand.

"Huh?"

"Blake, with kissing."

My mind roamed back to that rainy evening when our bodies were pressed together as Blake latched on to my neck. "That man knows what he is doing."

She took a sip of her coffee before making the usual grunting noise. "You guys met at the wrong place and at the wrong time. If only he wasn't your professor, you would've been doing him now."

"Maybe." I snorted. "I'm still not sure what his deal is with Daphne, though. They seem very close, too close for ex-fiances. I might not be looking for a boyfriend, but not going to throw myself into someone else's love drama."

"Right, I asked Gary about that." She scrunched her nose again. "So Blake and Daphne aren't together, and they're not trying to work on their relationship, either. But they're still good friends because of family connections."

"They kissed in the nightclub. I noticed her lipstick was smeared off, and Blake didn't deny it when I brought it up."

"Hmm." Lea pursed her lips, looking genuinely curious. "Do you think they're friends with benefits? Or was it an innocent, drunk kiss? Daphne was already a bit giggly when we joined them. But yeah, something with that blond chick is a bit off. I'm going to dig for more information about them."

"You don't need to do that, Lee. It's not our business."

Lea shrugged. "Why not? I'm just trying to look up to you, Jen."

Lea had a good intention, I gave her that, but sometimes she went to some unnecessary extent just to make sure I wouldn't get hurt. I couldn't say I didn't appreciate it, but I wasn't happy about it, either. It gave me the feeling of not being trusted enough to deal with my own problems. She was just the female version of Dean.

***

I stood in front of the faculty administration building, exactly the building where I saw Blake in his office, but I didn't bring my psycho-diagnostic reports this time. It was surreal that one month brought so much change in our exchange.

I lit up my phone and unlocked it. I needed to make sure I'd read Blake's message correctly.

Blake A: Betty's desk, tomorrow at 3 p.m. She knows you're coming. Good luck.

I smiled at the text message. He texted the way he talked; it was just so Blakey. Nonetheless, I was glad that it was the one that popped up on my screen during my heart-to-heart session with Susie last night since she could easily read the message, too.

"Good afternoon," I greeted Betty once I reached the receptionist's desk. "I'm Jenny...fer Adrian. I believe Mr. Andrew has mentioned me coming to see you today for the temporary position in the Assessment Center?"

Betty was exactly the same since I'd seen her last, friendly and lively. She was wearing an intense green blouse that matched her eye color. Once she saw me, her eyebrow twitched.

"Ah, it's you! Good afternoon, dear. Yes, Blake told me about you." Betty opened her drawer and took out a few papers before handing them to me. "These are the forms you need to fill in. You can do it at home later because now I will take you to Ashley, the girl you're replacing. She will explain about the job."

"Okay, thank you." I took the papers and carefully slid them into my bag.

The Assessment Center was on the rear side of the building. It had its own door connected to the faculty parking lot, but most clients went to the Center through the main lobby. After striding along the west wing corridor, we passed a glass door, and a woman with blonde curls was sitting behind a reception desk full of scattered papers, stationery, and a jar of cookies. A computer screen was set on her left side, and a big grey cupboard stood intimidatingly behind her.

"Oops, sorry!" She said as she saw us, grabbing her cookie jar and hiding it in the drawer. "Is it three already? I swear I wanted to tidy up a little before you arrive. I hope this didn't scare you off."

"No, of course not," I replied politely.

The girl bounced in my direction and held out her hand. She had a small posture, but her belly was huge, that it was almost painful just to look at it. "Hi! I'm Ashley. You can call me Ash."

I shook her hand. "Jenny."

"So," she said, grinning from ear to ear, "welcome on board!"

"Very well! I'll leave you two now," Betty interjected. "Oh, Ash, I have another bag of cookies at my desk. Come and pick it up later. It's gluten-free."

Ashley bounced up and down, making me afraid that her belly would pop right here, right now. "You're a lifesaver! Don't mind me, Jenny. I've just been hungry all the time since I got pregnant. I can't survive an hour without chewing on some cookies! I wasn't a fan of cookies before, you know. I blame my little bun for this." Ashley laughed at her own joke while rubbing her belly.

I'd thought Betty was the chattery one until I met this girl. "When are you due? I mean, if you don't mind me asking."

"July the twentieth, but they say the date is off most of the time, and I'm getting more and more exhausted lately. So, I'll just start my leave as soon as they have my replacement. And they do!" She squealed again.

"Yeah, but I will get some supervision on my first days, I suppose?"

"Of course! Okay, now! This is basically your workplace. Our working hours are Tuesday to Friday, twelve to six, but we won't start any assessment activity before one o'clock. Thirty minutes break at three. So, your primary job is answering calls. They're mostly questions about the assessment service and making appointments. Some assessments are conducted at clients' places, but sometimes they want to use our rooms here." She pointed out at the corridor next to the cupboard, which I assumed led to testing rooms.

"We have four professors who handle the assessment. Mrs. Sue is in charge of the inquiries. After she decides which projects to proceed with, your job is to make the schedules. You can see here which assessor for which day." She walked to her table and pointed her finger at the roster next to the telephone machine.

"There are also a few post-grad students helping out since they're on-the-job training programs. I will give you their names later. Any questions?"

"Um, no. Not yet," I shook my head while my eyes fixed on the roster.

Tuesday - Veronica Sue
Wednesday - Thomas Watson
Thursday - Jessica White
Friday - Blake Andrew

"Excellent! So, overall, that's all about it." Ashley swiveled on her heels to face me, grinning. "I will be here on your first three days. Can you start next Tuesday?"