The Second Burn

JOAN COLE’S POV

“Joan?” I heard my name called softly behind me.

I looked up and I saw the greatest shock of my life.

Alex stood a few feet away from me, looking taller and older than I remembered. Our eyes met and something old, familiar, and dangerously alive stirred between us.

“Are you the designer?” he asked, clearly surprised.

“What… what are you doing here?” I stuttered, looking just as surprised as he was.

“I’m the architect you are supposed to work with henceforth,” Alex replied as he stepped closer.

The clean, warm, and unbelievably Alex’s scent reached me. I tried to stay calm, but my body betrayed me as I felt an ocean pouring out right under me.

Alex noticed. Of course he did… We dated for five years.

“You look stunning,” he said softly, lowering his gaze to my hands which were gripping a folder like it was the only thing keeping me in check.

“You look well too,” I replied, my voice barely audible.

“Joan… I…” Alex wanted to talk but I cut him off.

“Let’s get into business, Mr. Hart,” I said curtly, as I pulled out a chair and placed my folder on the table.

“Oh, right,” Alex responded, rubbing his temple.

He sat down too and we went through the paperwork together.

Throughout the meeting, I could feel Alex stealing glances at me.

“Here are the samples,” I said.

Alex reached out, but instead of grabbing the samples, he wrapped his hand over mine, pinning the sample to the table.

The room suddenly felt too small.

“This can’t work,” I murmured as I pulled my hand away.

I grabbed my bag and folder and stood up.

“I’m afraid I will have to take my leave now, I need to meet up with another client, Mr. Hart,” I said with a professional smile.

“It’s nice meeting you, Joan… oh no… Miss Cole,” He snickered as he stood too.

I walked towards the door, my heels clicking on the marble floor.

“Are you married?”

An unexpected question stopped me just as my hand reached the doorknob.

“Does that have anything to do with this meeting?” I asked, my face blank.

“Huh… I mean… I…” Alex stammered.

“See you some other time, Mr. Hart.”

With that, I walked out of the room.

“Right… there is always some other time,” Alex said, smiling as he slowly licked his lips.

That evening, I got home very tired. I had met with three other clients apart from meeting Alex, and I couldn’t stop thinking about that particular moment.

As I stepped inside, I found Lena, my best friend, curled up on a couch, smiling at her phone.

“You are back home,” she said, looking up.

“Yeah,” I replied as I locked the door behind me.

“Girl… you wouldn’t believe who I saw today,” I added seriously.

Then, I dropped my bag on the couch opposite Lena and sank into it.

“You know I’m not good at guessing… so, just spill the tea,” Lena replied, sitting up to hear the gist.

“Alex was the architect I met with earlier today… I don’t know why the company had to send him and not someone else,” I started.

“Wait… Alex? The same Alex? That good-for-nothing fellow?” Lena replied, clearly irritated.

“Yeah… the same Alex,” I answered.

“So what happened? How did you handle it? Did you go ahead with the meeting?” Lena asked curiously.

“Chill… one question at a time please,” I smirked.

“I can’t wait to hear it,” Lena added.

“Of course, I went ahead with the meeting. I can’t afford to lose money because of one stupid ex,” I admitted.

“I trust you for that,” Lena smiled softly.

“So, what next?”

“He looked so hot… I won’t lie,” I said with a soft smirk.

“Really,” Lena laughed loudly.

“For real, I wanted to compose myself, but my pussy didn’t allow me, it was just throbbing and dripping,” I continued, slowly rubbing the back of my ear as I blushed.

“Girl, you were supposed to be angry with him,” she hissed.

“I know right… but now that we will be working closely together, I really need to set boundaries,” I said, now serious.

“Did you just say set boundaries?” Lena laughed.

“With the way you are already throbbing and dripping just because you saw him… I doubt it,” she added, still laughing.

“I will,” I said as I stood and headed to my room.

“We will see how it goes,” she smirked, returning to her phone.

“Set boundaries indeed.”

That night, I couldn’t sleep. I just kept tossing and turning, memories of Alex flooding my mind.

Especially how hot and steamy our sex life was. I remembered how he would turn me on the bed and how every corner in his small room was our playground.

I remembered how he would seize one of my breasts in one hand and fasten his mouth on the tip of the other.

“Gosh!” I moaned softly, slowly moving my hand into my panties.

“What am I doing?” I whispered, snapping myself back to reality before pulling on my eye mask.

You wouldn’t blame me… I haven’t had good sex since I left Alex.

Just as I turned to sleep, my phone beeped.

“Gosh! Who is that at this time of the night?” I hissed as I removed the mask and checked my phone.

“Hello, Miss Cole… we have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning. I can’t wait to see you, sexy.”

“Talk of the devil,” I smiled, before reality struck me.

“Wait… he has my number?” I whispered, my eyes wide open.

Now my fear is about to turn into reality.