As it turns out, the man Andy fell in love with is more of a mystery than she first thought. When they give their relationship another chance, it's not long before Lex's secrets begin to unravel, threatening their happily ever after.
• - • - • - •...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
When I reached Lex's office, I didn't even knock before opening the door. We'd been in there not even five minutes ago, so I doubted Lex had had the time to dive into something serious or sensitive.
I found him pacing the room, passing a nervous hand through his hair. His eyes met mine in a second, and the turmoil that was going on within him was evident. He stopped his anxious walking around and came to me. "Fuck, Andrea. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that. It just happened before I could think."
"It's okay, I get it. I want to touch you all the time, so I know it's hard to hold back. It was going to happen, eventually."
"Did they say something? Do they know?"
I bit my lower lip with a wince, hating how apprehensive he sounded. "I had to tell them. It was either that, or you risked some problems for inappropriate behavior. Mason and Brian had to know we were seeing each other."
Lex looked troubled, his mind calculating and overthinking. "How are you not mad at me?"
His question unsettled me, and I tried to understand where it came from. I wasn't some angry harpy who'd jump him for this, far from it. Why should I be mad at him?
Suddenly, it clicked. It looked an awful lot like what had happened with Oliver. It was the second time he'd exposed our affair in the workplace. The second time he had let something like this happen. This time felt different from with Oli, though. This time, I was certain it had been accidental, a tender gesture impossible to repress, rather than an action purposefully done out of jealousy.
Still, something in me made me apprehensive. He'd done it in the past. What insurance did I have that he wouldn't do it again? No. He wouldn't. We'd made such progress, worked on all of this so hard, he wouldn't do something like that anymore. But at the same time, Lex was the most controlled man I'd ever known. He didn't let emotions take over. He didn't do that sort of thing.
"You didn't do it on purpose, right?" I simply said, halfway between a question and a statement. It didn't seem to offend him, as he thought about his answer for a moment.
"I didn't, no. I didn't consciously do it, at least. But maybe some subconscious part of me wanted to. I always hold back. I always think before acting or talking. But not then. It just happened before I could anticipate it and prevent it."
"But you didn't purposefully do it, Lex. It's okay. I can't blame you for wanting to touch me when I want to jump you every time I'm in the same room as you."
"So... I didn't ruin everything again?" he asked, troubled.
Only then did I understand why he was so concerned. He hadn't been afraid about the repercussions of our affair becoming public. He had been terrified by the potentiality of me breaking up with him, just like I'd done when the same thing had happened with Oli.
The despair in his voice hit me hard, and I went to him in a second, reassuringly framing his face with both my hands. "No, baby, you didn't. It was always going to happen. They were always going to know. It just happened sooner than we expected."
