Leap OF Fate

The weekend flew by quicker than Serene and Justin wanted. They had so much fun over the weekend and would love to have stayed longer.

Carol and Conrad accompanied them to the airport.

"Please visit soon," Carol said to Justin as she was hugging him.

"Yes, Mom," he promised.

"Take care of Serene while she's at Hyacinth Bay," Conrad said as he also gave Justin a tight hug.

"Don't worry, Dad, I'll take care of her."

After saying their goodbyes, they both boarded. It was less than an hour flight, but Serene still slipped in a catnap. Justin read an inflight magazine while holding her hand.

It surprised him that their trip to Coast City turned out to be an enjoyable one. The way he felt going to Coast City and returning to Hyacinth Bay were opposites. Leaving Hyacinth Bay, his heart wanted to leap out of his chest from the tension and nervousness he felt. On their return, he never felt calmer. The warmth he received from Serene's parents coated his heart. He already longed to go back and spend some more time with Conrad. He put a mental note to ask his secretary to move things around his schedule for another weekend trip.

Justin's driver welcomed them when they arrived at Hyacinth Bay. This time around, he and Serene sat in the back seat while his driver drove them to Magnolia Crescent.

Serene snuggled closer to him, wanting to continue her interrupted nap. Justin had not let her go until it was almost morning. She felt tired and sore all over. She just wanted to sleep and regain her strength.

Justin held her in his arms to let her continue her sleep. He stroked her hair, relaxing her further.

Serene still slept when they reached Magnolia Crescent. He felt bad waking her up, after all she looked exhausted. He carried her up into the villa and into their bedroom.

Serene stirred a little when her back hit the bed, but did not wake up. She felt cold air on her skin but it did not last long, a warm and silky feeling of cloth sliding down her skin replaced the coldness. She turned sideways to find a comfortable position to continue her REM cycle. Justin shook his head at the woman whom he just undressed and changed into her pyjamas. She's like a hibernating bear. He slid on her side and joined her in her sleep, wrapping his arms possessively around her body.

The bright light slipping from the window tickled her eyelids. She rubbed them before opening them and scanned her surroundings. It's the master's bedroom in Justin's villa. She darted her eyes to the clock by the bedside. It read 7:00 AM. Feeling the space beside her, Justin's side was already empty but still warm.

"Morning, Kitty," he pecked her lips. He just came out of the bathroom and just had a towel around his waist. His hair still wet, droplets of water crawled down from the hair on his shoulder down to his hard chest and tight abs.

"Kitty, if you continue to look at me that way, we'll have to extend our vacation," he chuckled, but his eyes burned her skin. It felt like those eyes were stripping off her clothes.

She pushed him away and darted into the bathroom like an arrow. As usual, after coming out of the shower, she saw the clothes he picked for her laid down on the bed.

Both were putting on their clothes and were trying to avoid having body contact with each other. The attraction between them was so palpable, a single touch will surely delay them.

Serene finished first and walked up to Justin to help him tie his tie. She focused her eyes on the strip of cloth as her hand crossed and pulled to create the perfect knot.

They went downstairs together to have a quick breakfast, then headed for work. It had been their habit to leave the villa early. Both have a pet peeve for tardiness. Superficially, she and Justin were opposites. She's warm and approachable, while he's stoic and arrogant. However, if one were to look at the tiny details of their life, they would notice that they're more alike than they were different.

They arrived at the office on time. Justin went straight to the top floor for his morning conference call while she headed to the Finance department.

She's about to complete her project with Rain International. Just some additional tests, and if Arthur gives his green light, she could proceed in handing them off to their account manager.

Because of the problems she encountered in her previous tests, she had requested from Al to send somebody to help her. She's not yet versed with coding, so having somebody with more experience will help her resolve the problem.

Al sent Alex to Rain International to help Serene. He and Serene used one of the smaller conference room to go over the codes she had written. As her mentor, Serene felt very comfortable around Alex. She spoke her mind openly and so did he. She took in all his feedback constructively.

He studied her laptop closely, scanning her codes line by line. She observed Alex's every move, taking in everything she could to learn from him. Their heads almost touched each other as they both scrutinized her laptop's monitor.000000