Claire unlocked the car with a click, and I slid into the passenger seat, slamming the door harder than necessary. The air inside was cold, almost sterile, and the faint scent of her perfume lingered—clean, sharp, and maddeningly familiar.
She got in without a word, shutting the door behind her. The silence stretched, thick and suffocating.
I clenched my fists. “So, what now? You’re gonna lecture me about leaving work early? About forgetting the damn air conditioning?”
She didn’t respond, just turned the key in the ignition.
That pissed me off even more.
I grabbed the bottle of water from the cup holder and hurled it at the dashboard. “Fucking say something, Claire!”
She didn’t flinch. Didn’t even look at me.
I yanked off my jacket and threw it at her lap. “You have nothing to say now? After everything?” My voice cracked, rage bubbling over. “After last night, after telling me you don’t regret it but still calling it a mistake—what the hell do you want from me?!”
Still, she sat there, hands resting on the steering wheel, eyes fixed forward.
My chest heaved. I could feel the heat behind my eyes, the sting of everything crashing down at once. “You can’t just do this, Claire! You can’t have me one second and then push me away the next!”
I reached for the file sitting in the backseat and flung it against the dashboard. Papers scattered everywhere, some falling onto the floor. Claire finally closed her eyes, inhaling slowly, but she still didn’t speak.
The silence made me even angrier.
I turned toward her fully, my nails digging into my palms. “Say something. Anything.”
She opened her eyes, finally looking at me. Her face was unreadable, but there was something in her gaze—something heavy, something breaking.
“I don’t know what to say, Mae.” Her voice was quieter than I expected.
I let out a sharp, bitter laugh. “That’s bullshit. You always know what to say. You always have the upper hand.”
She exhaled, rubbing her temple. “You think this is easy for me?”
I scoffed. “Oh, poor you. Must be so hard to sleep with someone, then pretend it didn’t happen.”
Her jaw tightened, but she didn’t argue.
I ran my fingers through my hair, frustration clawing at my chest. “You know what, Claire? I should’ve known better. You get what you want, and then you throw it away when it stops being convenient.”
A flicker of something crossed her face—guilt? Pain? I couldn’t tell, and I was too damn tired to care.
I leaned back against the seat, my voice raw. “Just tell me the truth, Claire. Do you actually want me, or was last night just another thing you’ll brush under the rug?”
She hesitated.
And that hesitation? It fucking killed me.
Claire exhaled through her nose, then finally spoke—but not in the way I wanted.
“I’m your boss, Mae,” she said, her tone calm but deliberate. “You’re supposed to be by my side. Isn’t that your job?”
I snapped.
“Oh, fuck you, Claire.” I grabbed the nearest thing—her damn folder—and flung it against the dashboard again. “Don’t you dare use that against me. Don’t act like last night was just part of my damn job!”
She turned her head slightly, her expression still unreadable. “I didn’t say that.”
“You implied it,” I shot back. My hands were shaking now. “You wanna remind me of my place? Fine. Then here’s my answer—” I sucked in a breath. “I’ll resign.”
That finally got a reaction.
Her head snapped toward me, her brows knitting together. “What?”
I clenched my jaw. “I’ll resign, Claire. I’m done.”
She stared at me, something flickering behind her eyes. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do,” I hissed. “I refuse to be another one of your fucking power plays. You don’t get to sleep with me and then act like I’m just your assistant. You don’t get to call it a mistake while telling me you don’t regret it. You don’t get to control me like this.”
Silence.
Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel.
I let out a shaky breath, my voice quieter but still sharp. “If staying by your side means destroying myself, then I’d rather leave.”
For the first time, Claire looked lost. Not unreadable, not composed—just lost.
But I was too angry, too exhausted, to care.
I turned to the window, gripping my knees. “Take me home.”
She didn’t move right away. But then, after what felt like an eternity, the engine hummed to life.
Neither of us spoke as she drove.
The silence inside the car was deafening, stretching out between us like an open wound neither of us could bring ourselves to stitch shut. The city lights blurred outside the window, streaking past in cold, detached smears. I kept my eyes on them, unwilling to look at Claire, unwilling to let her see the way my chest heaved with every barely contained breath.
My phone buzzed in my lap, the sudden vibration jarring against my already frayed nerves. I glanced at the screen—Stella. I hesitated before flipping the phone face down. Not now. Not when I was barely holding myself together.
Claire didn’t say a word. She didn’t ask who it was. She just drove, her knuckles white against the steering wheel, her lips pressed into an unyielding line. I wanted to scream at her, to shake her, to make her feel even a fraction of the chaos raging inside me. But I didn’t. Because deep down, I knew it wouldn’t matter.
We pulled up in front of the penthouse, the tires crunching softly against the pavement. The engine hummed for a few seconds before Claire finally turned the key, cutting it off. The abrupt quiet made my ears ring.
I reached for the door handle, desperate to escape, but her voice stopped me cold.
“Mae.”
It was barely above a whisper, but the weight in it was enough to pin me in place.
I didn’t turn around. “What?”
A beat of hesitation. Then—
“Don’t go.”
My fingers tightened around the handle. I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting the sudden wave of emotion that threatened to drown me. “You don’t get to say that.”
“I know.” Her voice was raw, almost fragile. “But I’m saying it anyway.”
I let out a hollow laugh. “Why? So you can keep me close enough to want you but far enough that it won’t mean anything?” I finally turned to her, my gaze locking onto hers. “You’re not that cruel, Claire.”
She looked away first, her jaw clenching. “I don’t know how to do this,” she admitted. “I don’t know how to want you the way you want me.”
The words were a punch to the gut. “Then don’t.”
She flinched.
I opened the door and stepped out, the cool night air wrapping around me like an embrace. Claire followed, locking the car behind us as we walked toward the private elevator. The ride up was stiff, heavy with words left unsaid.
The doors slid open at the penthouse level, and just as we stepped out, we nearly collided with Mr. Leo and Conor, his assistant. Leo barely acknowledged us, his expression neutral, but Conor gave me a brief, assessing glance before nodding in greeting.
Claire straightened beside me, her tone cool when she spoke. "Mae, go inside first."
I scoffed, shaking my head. "No need to order me. I know."
I didn’t wait for her reaction, didn’t look at the way her lips pressed together or how her fingers twitched slightly at her side. I just turned, heading toward Claire’s penthouse without another word.
As the door clicked shut behind me, I exhaled sharply, pressing my forehead against the cool surface for a moment before stepping away. I didn’t know how long Claire, Leo, and Conor would be in his penthouse. I didn’t care.
All I knew was that the ache in my chest wasn’t going away anytime soon.
.
.
.
The next morning, I was barely functioning. Sleep had been a joke, and my mind wouldn’t stop replaying every damn thing from last night. I went through the motions—shower, coffee, a half-hearted attempt at breakfast—before heading to the office.
Not long after I arrived, my phone buzzed with a message from
 
Conor: Come to Mr. Leo’s office.
 
I stared at the screen, debating ignoring it, but I knew better. With a sigh, I grabbed my things and made my way there.
Conor was waiting just inside, his usual unreadable expression in place. He gestured for me to sit, but I stayed standing, arms crossed. "Is this about Claire?"
He tilted his head slightly. "Everything fine with you as Claire’s assistant?"
I gave him a flat look. "Yeah. It’s fine."
"Claire mentioned you were thinking of resigning," he said, watching me closely. "Why?"
I exhaled. "It’s personal."
Before Conor could say anything else, Leo’s voice cut in from the doorway. "You’re not resigning."
I turned to see him leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, looking like this was already decided.
"Leo—"
"No," he said simply. "Claire asked me to step in, and I agree with her. Whatever’s going on, quitting isn’t the answer."
I clenched my jaw. "This isn’t company business."
"That’s exactly why I’m dealing with it myself." He pushed off the doorframe and walked over, stopping just in front of me. "You and Claire are a mess, but she doesn’t ask me for help unless it’s important. And this? It is."
I didn’t know what to say to that.
Leo sighed, his voice lowering. "Take some time if you need it, but don’t do something you’ll regret." He held my gaze. "She values you, Mae. Even if she’s bad at showing it."
My chest felt tight. I exhaled slowly. "I’ll think about it."
"Good. That’s all I ask."
As I left the office, my mind was spinning. Claire had gone to Leo—to Leo—to stop me from leaving.
As I stepped into my office, Claire was already there, sitting at her desk like nothing had happened. She barely looked up before speaking.
"Why did you come to the office without me?" Her tone was casual, but there was an edge to it.
I tossed my bag onto my chair and sat down. "Got called in."
She finally lifted her gaze from whatever she was working on, eyes sharp with curiosity. "By who?"
I hesitated for half a second, which was apparently enough for her to latch onto.
"Leo?" she guessed, tilting her head slightly.
I sighed. "Yeah."
Claire hummed, tapping a pen against her desk. "And?"
"And what?"
She rolled her eyes. "What did he say?"
I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms. "Nothing groundbreaking. Just that I'm not resigning."
Her lips twitched like she wanted to smirk, but she held back. "Smart man."
I let out a short laugh. "You really went straight to him?"
Claire shrugged, completely unapologetic. "I knew he’d handle it."
I shook my head, looking away. "You could’ve just talked to me."
She was quiet for a beat. "Would you have listened?"
Claire stood up, her chair scraping softly against the floor. I kept my gaze fixed on my desk, pretending to be busy, but I knew better than to think she’d just let it go.
A second later, she was in front of me. And before I could react, she spun my chair around so I was facing her. My breath hitched as she leaned down, hands gripping the armrests, her face dangerously close to mine.
Her eyes locked onto mine, intense, unreadable. Then, with a soft sigh, she murmured,
"Your eyes are so pretty... How could I focus on my job if I couldn't get to see these beautiful eyes at least once a day?" Her voice was almost whiny, the kind of tone that sent a shiver down my spine. "But I worked hard… Now I get to see them more and more and more. At the office, at home, during lunch, during dinner…" Her lips curled slightly, her voice dropping into something almost desperate. "So please, don’t turn your eyes away from me…"
I clenched my jaw. She sounded clingy, almost needy. And after everything that had happened…
I scoffed. "After what happened, you're being annoying like this? I don’t understand you."
Claire’s expression faltered. She straightened slightly, her usual confidence flickering for just a second before she exhaled. Her hand twitched at her side, like she wanted to reach for me but wasn’t sure if she should.
"I…" She hesitated, the word barely leaving her lips. Then she took a breath, forcing herself to meet my gaze again. "I'm sorry."
I blinked. Claire? Apologizing?
She shifted awkwardly, arms crossing like she was trying to protect herself. "I… I didn’t know how to say it properly. I still don’t." Her jaw tightened. "But I mean it."
Something in her voice was off—she was stiff, almost unnatural. Claire was always composed, always in control. Seeing her like this, struggling with her words, made something tighten in my chest.
I swallowed. "...Then say it properly."
Her lips parted slightly, as if searching for the right words. But for once, Claire had nothing to say.
Claire hesitated for a long moment before finally sighing, as if coming to a decision. Then, to my surprise, she knelt in front of me.
I tensed. "What the hell are you doing?"
She ignored me. Her hands rested lightly on my knees as she looked up, her eyes searching mine. There was no teasing now, no smirk, no mask of confidence. Just raw, unfiltered emotion.
"I’ve always been in love with you," she said, voice quiet but firm. "Ever since the day I bumped into you at SPD."
I inhaled sharply. That was years ago.
Claire swallowed, her fingers tightening slightly against the fabric of my pants. "I didn’t even know what to call it back then. I just knew you caught my attention in a way no one else ever did. And the more I saw you, the more I… felt." She let out a small, bitter laugh. "I hated it, you know? How easily you got under my skin. How much I wanted to be around you."
I stared at her, heart pounding, but I didn’t say a word.
She took a slow breath before continuing. "I thought if I stayed close, I’d get over it. That if I kept things the way they were, I wouldn’t have to deal with… this." She gestured vaguely, frustration flickering across her face. "But then you pulled away. And I realized I couldn’t handle that, either."
Her eyes locked onto mine, unwavering. "I don’t know how to say it properly, Mae. I’m not good at this." Her voice was tight, awkward, but I could hear the desperation underneath. "But I know I don’t want you to leave. I don’t want to lose you."
I swallowed hard, my throat dry. "Claire…"
She shook her head. "Just tell me what to do," she said, almost pleading now. "Tell me how to fix this."
Claire exhaled sharply, dropping her gaze for a moment before looking back up at me. Her fingers curled slightly against my knees, like she was trying to ground herself.
"It’s just… it’s hard." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I’m afraid I’ll hurt you." She swallowed, shaking her head. "But doing this—pushing you away—it’s already hurting you. And it’s hurting me, too."
I stared at her, my chest tightening. Claire was never like this. Never this open, never this… vulnerable.
She let out a dry laugh, but there was no humour in it. "You know my family’s crazy. I’ve told you before." Her lips pressed into a thin line. "Look at Leo. He’s gay too. Conor’s his boyfriend." She glanced away for a second, then back at me. "But to keep the family name clean, he had to marry me. Well… it was more for him than me, honestly."
I clenched my fists. "That’s messed up."
"It is." Claire nodded. "But I didn’t care back then. I didn’t care about anything. I thought—whatever. Just do what they say, keep things simple." She exhaled, her expression tightening. "But now… now I do care. Because I don’t mind losing what I have—except you."
My breath caught.
Claire shifted closer, her hands now resting fully on my thighs. Her voice softened, but there was something almost desperate in it. "So tell me, Mae. Do you want to be my girlfriend?"
I inhaled sharply. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might burst out of my chest.
I didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know what to feel.
Claire just watched me, waiting.
My brain short-circuited.
Did I hear that right? Did Claire—the same Claire who spent so long acting like nothing fazed her, who never let anyone get too close—just ask me to be her girlfriend?
I stared at her, my breath caught in my throat. My pulse pounded in my ears, drowning out everything else.
She was still kneeling in front of me, hands resting on my thighs, looking up at me like she was actually afraid of what I might say. Claire. Afraid. That alone was enough to throw me off balance.
"You…" My voice came out rough. I swallowed hard. "You’re serious?"
Claire’s lips twitched, like she wanted to smile but couldn’t. "I wouldn’t be on my knees if I wasn’t."
I let out a shaky breath, running a hand through my hair. "Claire, this is—this is insane. You’re married."
"You think I don’t know that?" She let out a quiet laugh, but it was strained. "I told you, Mae. That marriage is nothing. Leo has Conor, and I…" She trailed off, eyes searching mine. "I have you. If you’ll let me."
Something inside me twisted painfully.
I wanted to scream at her for doing this now, for making me feel all of this when I had spent so much time trying to push it away. But at the same time, I wanted to pull her close and never let go.
I exhaled sharply. "I don’t know, Claire."
Her fingers tightened slightly against my legs. "I get it. I do." She hesitated, then lowered her head for a second before looking back up at me. "But I meant what I said—I don’t mind losing everything else. Just not you."
I swallowed hard. The weight of her words settled deep in my chest, heavy and impossible to ignore.
She was choosing me.
I inhaled deeply, trying to steady my thoughts, but it was impossible with Claire still kneeling in front of me, her hands warm on my thighs, her eyes fixed on mine like I was the only thing that mattered.
I wanted to believe her. I wanted to say yes.
But this wasn’t something I could just jump into—not after everything.
I exhaled slowly. "Claire… allow me some time."
Her brows furrowed slightly, but she didn’t say anything. Just waited.
I swallowed, forcing myself to be honest. "I do love you." The words felt heavy leaving my lips, but they were true. I didn’t even need to think about it. "Especially that night…" My voice dropped slightly, and I saw her expression shift. "When we had sex, I—" I hesitated, my chest tightening. "I really felt something."
Claire’s grip on me tightened just a little, like she was holding onto my words.
I took another breath. "But this… it’s a lot. And I need time to think."
For a moment, she didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Then, finally, she nodded, even though I could tell it wasn’t what she wanted to hear.
"Alright," she murmured, voice softer now. "Take your time. But don’t make me wait too long, okay?"
I let out a breathless laugh, shaking my head. "You’re really impatient, you know that?"
She smirked—just a little. "Only when it comes to you."