Axel led me away from the crowd, and his hand on my elbow was the only thing that kept me from falling apart.But as soon as I was away from the crowd and hidden in the hallway outside the Reception Hall, I broke down.I began to hyperventilate. Hugging myself close, I leaned against the wall, and felt tremors wrack through my body. The world blurred around me, and Axel’s voice became a distant echo. There was a rushing noise in my ears, and I felt lightheaded from the lack of oxygen.I felt a hand on my back, and it began to rub over my spine in circles. It was so startling that I had to focus on it, and that helped to drown out the whooshing in my ears just enough for me to hear Axel’s voice. “Breathe with me, Kara, come on,” Axel was saying. “Come on, you can do it. Breathe with me and follow my words. In and out. Okay? Okay, breathe in and hold, one, two, three, four, five, now exhale. Yeah, just like that, you can do it, come on. It’s okay, you’re okay. Breathe, Kara, breathe.

I gave Derrick my phone number because I didn’t really have an excuse to refuse it. It was company policy that we had to have a professional contact number for the office, and a personal contact number so we wouldn’t make the mistake of mixing work with pleasure, so to speak.I didn’t want to give Derrick my professional number either, so I gave him my second professional number. I’d decided to have a second number on a whim, thinking it might come in handy if my client base got too large to deal with from one number.I didn’t really think I’d use that number. It was a precaution.But if Derrick misused the phone number I gave him, I’d easily be able to block him and cancel the contact number.Derrick was quite happy with gaining my number. Triumphant, even. He looked at me like he’d won already, his expression barely concealing the smugness. It sparked a bone-deep anger within me, and I made up my mind then and there.No matter what happens, when Derrick leaves this city, he’s going

After Derrick’s unprompted visit, neither Axel nor I felt like sticking to our original plans, and I quietly asked him if he could drive me back home. Although Axel tried to show that the meeting hadn’t affected him, I could see the tension tightening his shoulders after two years of knowing him.I felt awful. Axel didn’t deserve to be attacked by Derrick like that. I had no idea why Derrick was being so hostile to Axel; he had no reason to be. Axel had done him nothing wrong! Derrick hadn’t been the type to insult people and demean them for their lack of wealth when I was with him, at least, unless it was me. I was his punching bag in the sense that he always accused me of being a gold digger. He was a demanding boss, that was clear, but he did treat everyone else who wasn’t married to him with dignity.So, what was his deal with Axel? Was he just being a jerk to him because Axel was my friend?The ride home was quiet as I tried to find a way to apologize to Axel on Derrick’s behalf

Watching Jesse draw was a revelation.For the first couple of minutes, as she was getting her canvas ready, she was quite talkative. She was so careful with her painting supplies, and that showcased her love for the craft from the very start.But then she started to draw and promptly lost herself to the process.After the first absentminded ‘mhms’ and ‘sures’ I got, I realized that talking to her was futile. Her mind was somewhere else, and her hand was moving lightning fast, a brush clutched in her hands. I’ve never been much for art, but even I could understand how magical it was to see what Jesse did. And seeing her be so passionate about it, I had to admit that the odds of Jesse being Kara was getting lower by the second.I knew Kara had gone to university for something artsy, but I didn’t think it was actually drawing kind of art. Maybe art history, or something, I wasn’t sure. I don’t think I asked. I regretted that a lot, because if I had known that Kara could draw, I would’v

Kara’s POV.He asked me to meet him at an art gallery.A freakin art gallery.At first, he asked me to dress in something nice, which baffled me. I asked him what on earth he meant by ‘nice’ because my office wear was always nice, and he spluttered something nonsensical, but I managed to catch one or two words. It sounded like he wanted me to wear something fit for a respectable night out rather than a business meeting.“You know, something fancy, but not too much?” he’d asked, and I actually pulled my phone away from my ear to stare at it.The audacity of the man!I refused, citing that the office didn’t allow us to wear such clothing during work hours.“Well, you can go home and change after work, right?” Derrick asked. “Don’t worry about transportation, I can pick you up from your place once you’re ready.” That was when I realized this man was trying to convert our work meeting into a date.Two years ago, I’d have been ecstatic to have this opportunity with Derrick. His asking me