Lily's POV - 6

My face was still hot when I went back to my desk. Of all the places in the world, why did he choose to come here for a vacation? If I had known he had plans of staying back, I wouldn't have slept with him.

"Isn't that the point of a one night stand?" I whispered to myself, while the guests mingled. "So you never see them again?" My head felt hot again, and I stood up to go back to the bathroom when I felt someone standing above me.

"Fancy seeing you here. Who would have thought?" William said, and when I glanced at him, there was a smile on his face.

"Do you need anything?" If I wanted to survive this, the least I could do was be professional. Maybe he would buy into it and forget about that night.

You look...different." he continued, like I hadn't spoken. Maybe not, then. "Day and night life...Lily." I hated the way he glanced at my chest when he said my name, like he still found it hard to believe I didn't say the truth.

"Yes," I mumbled, and bent my head again. "Have you been shown to your room?"

"No. Are you offering to do that?" My eyes widened and I fought the urge to cough. He was still trying to flirt with me.

"No, I can't." In a moment of panic, I stood up and pushed my chair so hard it nearly toppled over. "Excuse me." I all but ran to the bathroom and somehow, I got away with staying there till my shift ended. By the time I came out, everyone had dispersed and I sighed in relief.

As I walked home, I began to regret my decision of not wearing eyeliner. He saw me at my worst, dressed in a t-shirt too big for me and unflattering jeans. I slapped a hand to my head and groaned, what was I thinking? Maybe I should have taken the advice to dress up a bit, but instead, I had to attend to the guests looking like a truck hit me.

I scrolled to a picture on my phone and stared at the picture of that night. I was dolled up and sexy then, but now, it was like going from hundred to zero. My head pounded, but I took little notice of it as my thoughts ran all over the place.

But then again, it wasn't so much my fault. How was I supposed to know he would be a guest in the Bahamas? He was a random person, one out of a thousand people at the party. "Lord, why do I have the worst luck?"

Immediately I entered the bookstore I called out to Catherine, and she ran over within seconds. "You look horrible. What happened?"

"William is back." Confusion filled her features, and she shook her head as I realized I didn't really give her a name. "The guy I slept with at the party. He's a guest at the hotel."

"What?! Oh my gosh, how did that happen?"

"I don't know. He just showed up, looking all nice while I looked like...this."

Catherine shook her head. "Oh, dear. Well, you can't really avoid him so why not make good use of it?"

"What?"

With a shrug, my best friend leaned closer. "You admitted he was a good one, right? Better than your first, at least. So, you can try again and see where it goes."

My eyes widened as I processed her suggestion. "You mean I should start a casual relationship? That's too risky." I started to argue, but Catherine cocked a brow.

"Why?"

"We're not supposed to have a romantic relationship, it's against the policies. Besides, it'll be weird. Seeing him everyday, having to pretend–"

"Having fun everyday, you mean? Lily, allow yourself to enjoy this. Maybe this is fate's way to making you come out of the shadows and have fun."

"I have fun," I quickly defended, and she looked at me weirdly.

"How?"

"Well, I…umm, read books, go to the beach, and well, stuff like that. I have fun."

"Sure," she drawled. "In my opinion, this doesn't have to be a bad thing. It's just for two weeks, what's the worst that can happen?"

"Our girls' trip," I suddenly responded, seeing a bright light in the situation. "It's supposed to start next week, which means I won't have to see it much and by the time we come back, he'll be gone."

"If you say so. I'm just saying, this could be good for you." Just then, a group of four ladies walked in and my best friend stood up with a guilty look. "Sorry, I need to go." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Just wait for a while, I'll be done soon."

"Go on, go on." In the minutes I waited, I made a decision to be professional and cordial with him. I couldn't avoid him very much, but that didn't mean we needed to talk. Thankfully, Catherine didn't say much about it again.

The next day, I made sure to put special effort in my look. Rooting out the very fitted shirt and a better looking jean wasn't a high price to pay, even if it cost me two hours of quality sleep. It wasn't like I wanted to impress him, but I couldn't let the almost dead look linger in his mind.

Makeup wasn't the best of things I did, so lipgloss could work. On my way, I didn't miss the stares of people, and someone even called out to me. "What's the occasion?!"

When I got to work, my colleague was waiting for me. "Hey, Lily." Ateg called and when I turned my head, there was a weird look in his eyes. "Boss wants to see you."

"Okay." I eagerly nodded and got out of the sun, waving the young girl goodbye. It was almost weekend, and I couldn't help but wonder if he finally remembered I was supposed to be off the next week.

When I got to the door of his office, I heard a separate voice that sounded familiar but I couldn't place it. A weird thought suddenly occurred to me, what if he wanted to tell me something else? However, I quickly shook my head and smiled again. Nope, this was it. After working from January till September, I needed a holiday.

With a knock, I announced my presence and counted to three before pushing the door open. My eyes instantly drifted to the figure standing beside the floor to ceiling window in the room. William. His face still sent a thrill through me, but my mouth opened in shock for a second. What was he doing?

"Lily, how's work going?" My boss started in a cheerful voice. Usually, he was a bit strict with her but today, he seemed to be smiling way too much. I became skeptical.

"It's fine. Is there a problem?" Behind me, I could feel Lucien's stare boring into my back. From where I stood, it almost looked like he was smiling and my discomfort grew. Still, I sat in the free chair and stared at my boss.

"Okay, I'll go straight to the point." No, this couldn't be good. "From your information, I see you're due for leave this October, right?"

I allowed myself smile again. "Yes, I am. For two weeks."

"Yes, so umm, we'll have to move that forward till the first week of November." My eyebrows knitted together in confusion, as his words replayed in my head. Why was he suddenly going that, after promising the leave to me in August?

"But why? This has been the plan for a while. I don't–"

Lucien's voice cut in thickly. "I want you to be my personal tour guide."