After losing her job, Mikayla went home that evening and plopped down on her couch with a heavy sigh.

Taking her thick, curly hair out of its constraining bun, she put her feet up on the dark, rectangular coffee table. With a sigh, she laid her head back on the headrest, and looked up at the white ceiling.

"What am I going to do now?" Mikayla asked herself, her gaze moving to look about her apartment as she muttered, "That saying about things changing in the blink of an eye is really true though, so insane!"

She had come to enjoy living alone in her own personal space, having lived in the same apartment residence for almost three years. It was a cute one bedroom, one bath, located just outside of London, with great transport connections into the city.

Mikayla knew that, if she did not get a job right away, she would have to forfeit the place and move back home. She had not lived with her parents since leaving for university, and the thought of having to ask them for help did not sit well with Mikayla for she really did not want to let go of the independence that she had cultivated for herself.

"How could Mr. Northefielde betray us like that?" Mikayla uttered with a heavy sigh, as her mind replayed the awful events of the day.

Even though Damien had a reputation for being ruthless, he had not been intentionally cruel to the former workers of Northefielde Elements Inc. His contempt was with Brian and not with the employees. However, at the end of the day, business was business, and the shady dealings that their former boss had gotten himself entangled in had put them all at risk, landing them in the position that they presently were in.

The current state of their sudden unemployment was not Damien's fault but that of Brian's.

Mikayla wondered if anyone else had known what Mr. Northefielde was doing. The investigation would bring everything to light, and anyone else who was found to have been conspiring with him would be sent to jail as well.

Being his former personal assistant, she had immediately been pulled aside for intense questioning. The men in black that had accompanied Damien were part of an anti-corruption task force from Interpol. They had come to arrest Mr. Northefielde.

When the rest of their back-up had arrived, they went through her desk and computer. Mikayla had given her statement to the officers who in turn said that they would be in touch if anything else came up.

The entire situation was just one big mess!

Exhaling deeply, Mikayla reminisced about the time when she first saw Damien Arnauld.

'It was exactly eight months ago when he had first stepped into the conference room at Northefielde Elements Inc. He had an imposing presence and was roguishly handsome, but it had been his aquamarine eyes that had drawn her in.

She had never really seen eyes like his before, especially with the speckles of yellow in them.

When he had held her hand in acknowledgment, her body had shuddered slightly at the contact. The way his eyes had taken in her appearance from head to toe had made her even more jumpy. The small smirk forming on his lips suggested that he had not missed the effect his touch had on her.

"Arrogant bastard," she had muttered under her breath.

Mikayla had not been able to help but notice him as he kept glancing her way during Mr. Northefielde's presentation. She had wondered what was going through his mind, as his eyes locked with hers on more than one occasion.

After the meeting was over, Mikayla had quickly excused herself and returned to her cubicle, needing to put some distance between herself and his intimidating gaze. She had been drinking some water from her bottle when his large body suddenly leaned into the entrance of her work space, startling her.

"Ms. Moss was it..." Damien had said rather than asked, his voice nonchalant.

His unexpected appearance had made Mikayla spill some water down the front of her shirt.

"Shit," she sighed, as she hastily put the bottle down and grabbed some tissues off her desk to dab at the front of her blouse.

Damien had stood there and watched her, his eyes slowly taking in the movements of her fingers as she pressed the tissues into the material of her cream-coloured shirt.

The water had caused the material to become translucent, allowing hints of her nude-coloured bra to appear, as well as the top of the brown swells that it neatly encased. Forcing himself to look away, he cleared his throat to get her attention once more.

"Yes?" Mikayla had replied, her tone slightly irritated, as she wondered why he was standing by her cubicle.

With a soft chuckle, he had said, "Clumsy one you are, yea?"

"As if!" Mikayla had huffed then straightened herself to throw the tissue in the bin that was just off in the corner, before turning to face him once more, "What is it that I can do for you Mr. Arnauld?"

"There's many things," Damien's eyes had held some delight in them, "but for now I'd just like a copy of those notes that you made during the meeting. Brian said that you could email them to my secretary, Mrs. Clemons, he'll send you the necessary information."

Mikayla had tried to keep herself from getting distracted by his gaze. The way his eyes travelled over her caused her skin to get slightly heated. She had not appreciated the way her body was responding to him, and momentarily turned away.

"Traitor!" Mikayla had hissed quietly to herself, before refocusing her attention to Damien as he remained unmoving, "Very well, will that be all?"

"For now, Ms. Moss, for now," was all he had said as he left.'

Pushing the memory from her mind, Mikayla brought herself back to the present as she repositioned herself and sat up on her couch to focus on the problem at hand.

Since she had lost the majority of her savings, she only had enough money to get her through the next two months, three if she stretched things. If Mikayla did not get a new job within the next three weeks, she would have to move back home with her parents. It made no sense to drain the remainder of her funds.

Taking a deep breath, she psyched herself up before calling her mother Cynthia, unsure of the kind of reaction the news of her unemployment would evoke.

A few minutes later, Mikayla picked up her mobile phone and dialled her mother's number. After explaining everything, her mother had been speechless. Cynthia could not believe the situation; she did not think that the man who she knew as Brian was capable of doing such a thing.

"Are you sure you don't want to come home this week?" Cynthia inquired.

"No mum, I figured that I'd give it until just before the end of this month at least, and if I can't get another job, I'll give up the flat," Mikayla sighed.

"Alright sweetie, just remember that Roger and I are here if you need anything," her mother tried to comfort her.

They spoke for a while, catching up on other things, before saying their goodbyes and hanging up.

Mikayla smiled a little as she looked at the phone, thinking of Roger, her step-father. He had been a great father figure, and he was an amazing husband.

Roger Chapman had done his best to make Mikayla and her mother feel at home in England after they migrated from the Caribbean twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago to come live with him. She silently hoped that she would get a new job, as she did not wish to impose on them.

While biting the inside of her cheek, she dialled the number of Hannah Cupid, her best friend.

Mikayla quickly updated her on the situation, to which Hannah replied that she'd be over with some food in less than an hour.

————— ▲ —————

"Do you think you'll be able to get a new job quickly?" Hannah asked as she devoured a slice of the brick oven pizza.

Mikayla swallowed the bite that she was chewing before she replied, "I hope so, otherwise I'll need to move back to Northampton with mum and Roger."

"Bugger," the petite blonde grumbled.

She would have offered to let Mikayla stay with her. However, her landlord had a strict one tenant policy, and Hannah also knew that her best friend would not have accepted anyway, for fear of inconveniencing her.

Suddenly, Hannah's blue eyes lit up, an idea distracting her mind from her thoughts, "Hey! Why don't you ask Mr. Arnauld for a job?"

"Have you lost the plot?" Mikayla's voice raising in disbelief before she continued, "I rather not. That, I think, would be a last resort situation."

"No, I have not gone mad! Think about it," Hannah paused to stare at Mikayla for a second, before driving her point home, "besides being insanely rich, his company is very large and successful. I'm sure he can find a place to put you, you're highly qualified and you have a great work ethic."

Mikayla opened her mouth to object, but Hannah rushed on to add, "You really have nothing to lose Miks, it's either he says yes or no!"

"Ugh, I know, I know," Mikayla groaned, knowing that her friend was making sense. But she had her pride and was a person who liked getting things done by herself, "I just would really like to try and get something on my own before I have to go begging him of all people to give me a job."

"Technically it won't be begging, you're simply asking. Besides, just smile that pretty smile and shake that juicy ass of yours! You'll have him eating out the palm of your hand in no time, you sexy island gyal you!" Hannah teased.

Rolling her eyes playfully, Mikayla could not deny the extra attention that she got due to having Indian and African ancestry. Particularly where her long, thick, curly hair was concerned, people were always admiring it and asking if they could touch it.

"Don't roll your eyes at me! You know that I'm right!" Hannah stated with a raised eyebrow.

"That's the problem though, it's unnerving enough every time that I have to be around him. I'm not oblivious to the way he looks at me or to the way my stupid traitorous body reacts to him. I'm not sure how I'd handle working for him, much less around him," Mikayla's voice held some uncertainty.

Narrowing her gaze, Hannah continued to pester Mikayla, "You need to get laid my friend, and fast! I mean so what if he wants to sleep with you, would that be so bad? He's a billionaire, imagine the places you guys could have sex!"

"I swear all you think about is sex, that's your answer for everything!" Mikayla laughed, even though she did not agree with what her best friend was saying.

"Bollocks! It's been how many years Miks?" Hannah frowned slightly.

"Let's not discuss my non-existent sex life right now, we have more important things to think about," the tone in Mikayla's voice indicated that that particular topic was not up for discussion.

"Alright, alright! Relax, sheesh!" Hannah sighed, then moved closer to Mikayla to give her a hug, "You know I just want you to be happy right?"

"Yea yea," Mikayla's voice was muffled as she bit aggressively into another slice of pizza.

Exhaling sharply, she did her best to push away the thought that Hannah had unfortunately just put into her mind.

The image of her and Damien having sex.