Nothing to Lose (BWWM)

Nine

Vincent didn't understand why she wanted talk about what happened in the office. Yes, they were about to kiss but it was only because of their drunken state. It wouldn't have been anything special either way, just a drunken mistake. He did feel a stirring in his groin having her so close to him and his skin tingled when he felt her breath on his lips. But all that he blamed on the alcohol.

It was nothing worth talking about and yet the next Monday at work, it was all Imani wanted to talk about. She would always begin her sentence and he would finish it for her, not wanting to discuss the issue. To him, it was an issue that was long gone and was irrelevant, he didn't understand why she kept dwelling on it.

Imani watched as he prepared to enter their 10:45 meeting. All she wanted to talk about was how sorry she was for vomitting all over his shoes and how she didn't mind paying for them to be cleaned.

They entered the meeting room and Imani took her seat beside him, a frown on her face. When Vincent noticed this, he leaned into her ear. "They're arriving at any minute so smile, nobody wants to do business with someone that has a permanent frown on their faces."

"I wouldn't be frowning if you just let me say what I want to say." He rolled his eyes. He should've known that that was why she was upset. "Since Friday I have been trying to speak to you about it but you keep blowing me off or redirecting the conversation." His fingers moved quickly over his iPad and she was growing more and more frustrated with him. He didn't bother to throw her a look as she spoke. "Vincent, I swear to God if you do not at least look at me whilst I talk to you..." She threatened and that finally caught his attention. 

His head slowly rose and he narrowed his eyes at her. 

"Did you just threaten me?"

She showed no fear and turned her chair towards him. "Listen, all I wanted to do was talk about Friday. That's all I've been wanting to do and I don't understand why you keep being so rude and putting it off." She said, folding her arms in front of her.

Vincent checked the time on his watch, letting out a frustrated breath. "What do you want to talk about, Imani, huh? We had a bit too many to drink and weren't thinking properly." 

"Yes I know that but-." 

He cut her off mid sentence. "We were only going to kiss beause of the alcohol we had consumed, that's it." She reared back, she didn't expect him to bring up the kiss. She thought they would simply brush it off and continue on with their lives. "It wasn't as if we were completely aware of what we were doing."

"No of course not. We were completely drunk."

He nodded as he sorted through his papers. "Completely and utterly intoxicated. Besides I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have been all that amazing."

Slightly offended, she pulled a face. "Well I don't know, I wouldn't say that." After realising how her statement sounded, she covered her mouth, but he had already heard her and was now looking at her with a smirk and raised eyebrow. 

"Is that arrogance I hear, Imani?" He asked, making her roll her eyes.

"No, I didn't mean for it to come out like that. Your comment implied that-."

Vincent shrugged his shoulders. "My comment implied the truth. Had we... kissed, it wouldn't have been all that amazing. No offence to you Miss Forde but I doubt you'd be capable of being able to make me breathless in that department." With anger clawing at her soul, Imani narrowed her eyes at her boss and turned away from him, not wanting to satisfy him with a reply. She knew he was just trying to push her buttons.

Vincent leaned in towards her ear to tease her some more and at that exact time, Imani turned her head.

Unexpectedly, their lips joined in an accidental embrace that set alight a fire in the both of them that was the furthest thing from gentle. All it took was a simple head turn for the kiss to end and yet neither did so. His lips were soft and his kiss slow, which was the last thing she expected his kiss to feel like. His hand travelled upwards where he cradled her face in one hand and brought her chair closer to his with the other. 

Imani took a while to respond but when she did, she kissed him back with the same tenderness. 

The sudden knock on the door caused the both of them to pull back but neither hurried to look away. They stared at each other in shock over what had transpired and Imani noticed that her boss' eyes had darkened. His eyes were glued to her lips and it seemed as if both of them were in a trance. Imani hoped and prayed that he couldn't hear the loud pounding of her heart against her ribcage. 

"I hope we weren't interrupting anything." The slender silver-haired woman said as her and her team entered the room. Vincent was the first to snap back into reality and he pulled his chair away from Imani's, standing up and walking to the door. 

He stood by the entrance and licked his lips, wanting to remember the taste of his assistant. 

He took in a deep breath and slammed the door shut, his business persona suddenly taking over.

Throughout the entire meeting, Imani had to avoid looking at Vincent, finding the whole situation extremely awkward. When she wasn't trying to avoid his eyes, she was trying to fight off thoughts of their kiss and trying to ignore the way she was feeling after it. 

The silver haired woman finally stood after the meeting was over. "I'll have my team contact you in a week." she stated and Vincent nodded, stuffing his hands in his pocket after shaking her hand. "I must say, you two do make a lovely couple. Congratulations." Imani's head shot up at the comment and she blushed heavily.

Everybody left the room, leaving Vincent and Imani on their own. Vincent was the first to break the silence. "I'll need the minutes of that meeting on my desk and to the senior executives at the end of the day." He ordered, taking his iPad and heading out. "Oh and Imani." She looked up at him, his all seeing dark eyes piercing a hole through her. "What happened earlier-."

"A mere accident."

"Of course. Such an action would ruin the workplace environment and make everything messy. Nobody needs that."

She nodded her head in agreement. "No, nobody needs that." 

There was a slight awkward silence between them before Vincent swiftly left the room. Imani let out a breath she wasn't even aware that she had been holding. Their kiss had left her knees weak and she had to avoid standing the entire meeting. Her heart rate had finally returned to normal and her lips weren't tingling as much as they were when he pulled away from her. 

She chasted herself for kissing her boss. What was she thinking? She should have pulled away when it happened but she let herself get carried away. As much as she wished it hadn't happened, she had to admit that she enjoyed every second of it. 

They stayed out of the other's way for the rest of the day, not uttering a single word to each other. Both decided to brush the kiss under the rug, realising that it would be the best for their jobs. If there were any signs of an attraction to each other, they knew it could jeapordise a lot.

As Vincent prepared to leave the office for the day, his eyes fell upon a purple post-it note on the corner of his desk. He picked it up and read the words that were scrawled on it.

'Sorry about the shoes. Will have them cleaned for you by tomorrow. Imani'

He found the gesture endearing but he knew there was no point. He had thrown those shoes away as soon as he reached home that Friday night. Before he left, he looked out of his office window and saw his sassy assistant about to walk out into the night. He watched as she tightened the belt on her trench coat and looked around before walking down the street. His eyes remained on her as she entered the black car that stopped in front of her. 

Vincent realised he was staring at her and quickly looked away, turning off the light and leaving his office. Their kiss was nothing special. It had happened as an accident and it would never occur again. It was an accident.

One that Vincent couldn't stop replaying in his mind.