Wayne's POV

George rang me and we decided to meet in one of my clubs to talk about the business and our partnership. If it weren't for Tanya, I wouldn't have agreed to what he wanted. The idea of her working under me excited me. Yeah, under me. My groin stirred at the thought of her beneath me. I wanted her beneath me despite what she had done. Huwag lang magkakamaling iwan sa akin si Tanya. I couldn't promise to keep my hands off her.

Ten years had passed but my feelings for her came rushing back as if it had only been yesterday when she left me. I wasn't going to deny that there was still an ache when I saw her with George. The woman I'd loved, the woman I'd given my heart and soul to was now an old man's mistress. Maybe dad was right. She was a whore. A whore who would do anything for easy money.

"Mr. St. Croix." My thoughts were cut when I heard my secretary's voice in the intercom.

I pressed the button and spoke. "Yes?"

"Mr. George Sullivan is here to see you."

"Let him in." I said.

After a couple of seconds the door opened. George walked in and right behind her was Tanya. She stiffened when our eyes met. I beamed her a subtle and contemptuous smile.

"Good to see you again, Wayne." George politely said.

"Good to see you too, George." And then I looked at Tanya. "And you too, Tanya." I said and gestured my hand over the two armchair in front of my desk. "Please, sit down."

He quietly sat on the right armchair while Tanya sat on the left.

"Do you want anything? Juice, alcohol, coffee?" I asked them.

"I'll have a shot of whiskey, if you have any." George said.

"Of course," I said, smiling at him and then my attention averted to Tanya. "How 'bout you, Tanya? Do you want some mango juice?" That was what she used to always orders whenever we dine out.

"She likes Shirley Temple. Do you have any as well?" George said.

"We do." I answered and turned my gaze to Tanya. "I see your taste have changed." I darkly said with a snide. She didn't say anything and avoided my gaze. I pressed the intercom and told my secretary to get them some drinks. Within a few minutes, the drinks were served.

"To finalize our agreement, I've already contacted my lawyer to make a writen contract." I took out a file from my desk cabinet and layed it down in front of George. "That is just the draft. Kung may gusto kang idagdag o ibawas pwede natin pag-usapan yan."

"Everything looks good. I just want to change one particular thing." He said as he scanned through the contract. "I want Tanya's name written here as your business partner."

"George, no." She shook her head. "I don't know anything about running a business."

"That's why you have Wayne, darling. Gusto kong panatag ang loob ko kapag iniwan ko kayo dito." He smiled tenderly.

"Pwede naman akong maghanap ng trabaho." She said.

"Isn't this a job?" He let out a jolly chuckle. "You're a smart woman, darling. I'm confident in putting my full trust in you."

"Ayaw mo ba akong makatrabaho, Tanya?" One corner of my lips lifted into a smirk.

"No, it's not that..." Her voice was soft.

"I'm sure Mr. St. Croix here will take care of you." George gave me a soft smile.

"Very good care." I responded and looked at Tanya. I smiled to myself when I saw how tense it made her. I felt satisified, seeing her all riled up like that.

"See. You have nothing to worry about." He told Tanya.

We started talking about business. I explained my plans and ideas and he also added a few and told me what he didn't like about some of my ideas. George was an intelligent businessman, I couldn't deny that. He definitely knew what he was doing. He'd been in this industry for a long time now. Even though I didn't like him as a person, I had full utter and respect for him as a businessman.

As we were talking, his phone rang and he excused himself. He went out of my office and I was left alone with Tanya. There was a sudden and heavy silence hanging in the room. It was so silent you could hear the clock tick every second. Tanya was trying so hard to avoid looking at me.

What do old lovers talk about? What do you say to a stranger who you once saw a future with, a stranger who you had loved with all your heart, a stranger with painful memories that remained engraved in your heart?

I wanted to curse at her. I wanted to ask her why she had to leave, why she chose money over me. I wanted to ask if she really did love me or did I ever matter to her. I wanted to tell her how I fucking hate her and how disgusted I was with her. I wanted to tell her a lot of things but those words never came out.

"I'm very excited to work with you." I said this instead.

It seemed to have startled her. She lifted her head up to look at me. "Likewise."

"You look beautiful today, Tanya." Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, she had some make up on, nude probably. "You look so now."

She swallowed. "It's been years. Marami nang nagbago."

"I can see that." I nodded my head.

The door opened and George walked in in a hurry. He bent over to give Tanya a kiss on the side of her hair. My fists clenched involuntarily. "I'm sorry, darling. I have a very important business I need to attend. Ikaw na ang bahala dito." George turned to me. "My apologies, Mr. St. Croix."

"It's alright. Nandito naman si Tanya. Siya naman ang makakasama ko madalas." I answered with a snide.

George said goodbye and left.

"Somethings never did." I said, picking up where we had left of before George came in. "You can have a man wrapped around your little finger. Any man would give you the moon and stars if you asked for them." I chuckled, masking my anger as a joke.

She didn't smile. She nervously bit her bottom lip. "Wayne..."

"I'm just kidding. Can't you take a little joke? Para naman wala tayong pinagsamahan." I casually said.

She didn't say a word.

I tried my very best to act professional while I talk to her. She was obviously not experienced but she seemed to understand what I was saying. She was able to keep up.

"It's already five and I still haven't eaten anything since this morning." I said, looking down at my wrist watch. "Let's eat out."

"Huh? It's okay... I just ate." She said. "Mabuti pa umuwi na lang ako."

"No. I want to take you out. We're going to be business partners. I want to know more about the person I'm going to work with." I got up from my seat and walked up to where she was sitting. Like a true gentleman, I held a hand out for her.

She looked at my palm and then averted her gaze at me. I answered with a smile. Slowly, her hand lifted up and hesistantly took mine. She stood up and wrapped my other free hand on the back of her waist. She flinched a little and took in a harsh breath.

"Are you scared of me, Tanya?" I asked, my mouth almost touching her ear. God, she smelled so damn good. Her scent brought nostalgia. I remembered snuggling into her after a hot love making. And the heat her body brings, it was so welcoming. I remembered the simple intimacy we shared when we were clueless and young.

"No..." She answered breathlessly.

"Good." I smiled.

You should be. I thought

We could see the view of the Manila bay sunset from where we were sitting, inside an intimate restaurant right beside the window. There were candles burning on the tables. I glanced another look at Tanya. This was the restaurant where we first met, where I asked her to take her underwear off.

I never thought that night would change life. I never thought I'd fall in love with her. I never thought I was capable of loving someone more than I love myself. I'd never had anybody in my life like her and I vowed to myself I would never allow anyone in again. I'd learned my lessons.

When she left it was as if a part of me had been torn off. It made sense. The harder you fall in love, the further they get into your soul until they become a part of you, the more it hurts when you lose that person. I felt like a stranger in my own body and life because I became so accustomed to her being a part of me. I never thought of anything as me, I thought of everything as us. And then in the blink of an eye, at a drop of a hat, she was gone.

"Paano ka napunta sa Scotland?" I asked as we were eating.

"George brought me there." She said.

George. I wanted to grimace everytime she mentions that old guy's name.

"You said you worked in Scotland? Ano'ng naging trabaho mo doon?"

"I've worked as a human resource specialist."

"Interesting." I said. "What made you decide to go back here?"

"Scotland isn't for me. Mas gusto ko dito. At isa pa, matagal ko nang hindi nabibisita ang puntod ni nanay."

"I visit tita Esther, every now and then." I said. She was wonderful woman. All I have was love and respect for her. She was the mother I never had.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me. I'm not doing it for you. Tita Esther was special to me, I've grown fond of her in the short amount of time I spent with her." I sighed. "How did those ten years pass by so quickly? Parang kahapon lang nangyari ang mga iyon."

She nodded her head with a sad smile. "Kamusta ka naman? Looks like your business is in good shape."

"Yeah, it's doing good." I nodded and my eyes glided down her body. She was wearing a white blazer paired with white suit pants and stilettos. "But I don't think I'm making enough money to be able to afford you. You look expensive now."

Her face shifted into something else. "I'm not the girl I used to be, Wayne. Hindi ko pinagbibili ang sarili ko."

Because somebody else owns you.

"Hindi nga ba?" I cocked a brow at her.

"I... I think I should go home." She said and stood up from her seat.

"Leaving too soon?" I let out a smirk. "Go ahead. That's what you're good at, leaving."

There was a pained expression on her face before she lowered her gaze and started walking away. I payed the bill and got out of the restaurant. I rode my car and saw her standing by the sidewalk. I rolled my window down.

"Hop in." I said.

"May magsusundo na sa akin." She said, avoiding looking at me.

"It's already late, Tanya. Baka kung mapaano ka pa. Madilim dito."

She ignored me.

"I'm not going leave until you get it."

It took her awhile a a lot of convincing before she got into my car. She gave me the direction to the place where she was staying but other than that we never really talked. There was heavy tension between us. After a few minutes, I pulled up in front of a house. It wasn't small but it wasn't big either and it had white picket fence around it.

She muttered a small thank you before getting out of the car. I watched as she headed towards the front door and disappeared through them. Minutes had passed by and I was still in front of her house. I didn't leave. I couldn't get myself to. I just stared at the house. It was our dream house...

Horrible gut wretching pain engulfed me, the tightness in my chest was so painfully I could barely catch a breath. She'd built our dream house with someone else.

It was as if my body had a mind of its own and it forced me out of the car. I found myself knocking on her door and after a few knocks the door opened.

"George—" She paused when she saw me.

"I am not George." I growled, threading my fingers through the back of her hair and pulled her into a heated kiss, crashing my lips against her. She gasped and tried to push me away but I didn't budge. And then she was responding to my kiss. We kissed like there was nothing more important in the world. I was in euphoria in the moment as we were kissing, as if trying to make up for the lost time. I pushed her and closed the door behind us with my foot. I pinned her to the wall and she automatically wrapped her arms around me.

How my body still remembers things I forced it to forget. The familiarity of every touch, every kiss, it was there. It was urgent like a drug addict that hadn't had his fix for a long time., the first time together after so long. She was wearing a robe. I pulled it open and it revealed her silk nightdress. I let her robe slide from her arms to the floor and in one swift motion I was able to take her nighties off.

Screw foreplay. I needed her now. I needed to be buried inside her — deep inside her. And I needed it now.

"Wayne, stop. Baka makita tayo—"

"I don't fucking care! Let him see us!" I groaned, crashing my lips against hers.

I pulled her panties down and lifted her legs up to my waist, she wrapped it around me. I thrust forward and sunk into her perfectly warm and tight flesh, as if it was made only for me.. She let out a small whimper. God she was so tight and so fuckin wet around me. I stopped for a moment so we could both get used to the feeling. She gasped audibly when I surged slightly deeper into her. I started thursting in and out, slow at first and then it became faster, more urgent. She buried her face into my neck and moaned quietly as her hands clawed on my back.

A few more thrust and I released myself.

We were breathing heavily, my heart pounding against her skin, our sweats mingling in together with each other. Then slowly, she unwrapped her arms and legs from me and pulled away. She tried to get away from me but I didn't let her. I caged her body in between my arms.

"Pakawalan mo ako." She softly said, her eyes were pinned on the floor, not daring to look at me straight in the eyes.

I shook my head. "I want you again."

"Please, Wayne." She begged, almost on the verge of tears.

"Where's your room?" I asked.

"Umuwi ka na."

"Tell me where your room is or do you want me to fuck you here again?" I said in a dark voice.

She swallowed, as if holding back a sob. With shaky hands she pointed to the first door on the left. I picked her up and carried her into that room. I layed her down the bed and pulled her legs apart. My head bent down and suckled her breast, drawing a soft moan from her. My hands went down in between us and I touched her pussy. She was dripping wet, from my essence and hers. My finger found her clit and she tensed her muscle, recoiling. I felt myself getting hard again. My hips slammed into hers and I was inside her again.

I heard the door click open and paused when a small voice spoke, "Mommy?"