"So," Lucia said, tilting her head slightly, "you're still with him?"
Lisa hesitated for a second. "Yeah… we're, uh, trying again."
Lucia let out a low, amused breath and shook her head. "Well. That's... interesting."
Lisa arched an eyebrow. "You know Charlie?"
Lucia gave a soft laugh. "Yeah. I do. More than I wish I did, to be honest."
There was a pause. Lisa didn't push. But curiosity danced in her expression.
Lucia saw it. She tapped her nails against the armrest. "You want to know how, huh?"
Lisa shrugged. "Somewhat curious."
Lucia looked out the glass wall for a moment, like she was staring into the past. Then she looked back at Lisa and spoke calmly.
"About four months ago, I met him in a bar. I'd had a rough day. Just needed a drink. And there he was. Alone. Grinning like a charming idiot. He offered me a seat. We talked. He was funny. Smart. Surprisingly sweet."
Lisa said nothing.
Lucia continued.
"I was in a bad marriage at the time. Cold. Controlling. My husband... let's just say, if you looked up the word asshole in the dictionary, his picture would be there, flipping you off. And Charlie? He seemed like a good man. A little rough around the edges, sure, but kind. Vulnerable. He talked about his past. About some girl named Lisa."
Lisa's brows lifted slightly.
Lucia nodded. "Said he blew it. That he'd never connected with anyone like that before. He even showed me a photo. You. Said you were the one that got away."
Lisa's lips parted slightly, surprised.
Lucia's voice softened. "I'd never had someone talk like that about an ex. With that kind of honesty. I guess I was vulnerable too. Lonely. I thought... maybe this was fate."
She paused. Her eyes darkened.
"We slept together. A lot. I mean... it was intense. He made me laugh. I felt... seen. And stupidly, I started falling for him."
Lisa listened quietly, not sure where it was going, but her chest felt tight.
Lucia's jaw tensed. "Then my husband died. Bathroom accident. Hairdryer in the tub. Messy. Well, karma is a bitch. Cops ruled it accidental, but you know how people talk. Suddenly, I inherited everything. The house, the business. The mess. And I broke down. Therapy, medication, panic attacks. It was hell."
She looked at Lisa with something almost like shame.
"And I called Charlie. A lot. Left voicemails. Texts. I wasn't asking for anything big. Just someone to talk to. To tell me I wasn't crazy. That I wasn't alone."
Lisa leaned in slightly. "He didn't answer?"
Lucia's expression turned flat. "He ghosted me. Completely. Never picked up. Never wrote back. Not even a damn emoji. And the worst part? He never took me to his house. Never told me where he lived. Just hotels. Always hotels. I thought I was paranoid... turns out, I was just a side story."
Silence hung for a moment. Lisa exhaled slowly.
Lucia's eyes locked on hers.
"So now, I need to ask. How the hell are you still with that selfish whoremonger? Charlie Harper? The guy who vanishes the moment things stop being fun? Who plays the good guy until you're hooked and then drops you like a bad habit?"
Lisa's mouth tightened. She didn't flinch.
Lucia didn't wait for an answer. "You should kick his balls into orbit and run. Far. Fast. Before he breaks your heart again."
Lisa stared at her for a long second. Then looked down at her hands. Then back up.
"I get it," she said quietly. "He hurt you. And yeah... the guy you're describing? I've met him too."
Lucia raised an eyebrow.
"But people change. Time changes them. Pain changes them. And the Charlie I'm with now? He's not that guy anymore."
Lucia scoffed lightly. "Men like that don't change. They just get better at hiding it."
Lisa stood. Calm. Composed. "Maybe. Or maybe they wake up one day and realize they lost something real. And try to earn it back."
Lucia tilted her head. "You're betting on a lot of maybes."
Lisa gave her a faint smile. "Yeah. I am. But I know who he is now. And I'm not letting anyone else define him for me."
Lucia's smile was slow, almost respectful. But behind her eyes, the fire didn't fade.
Lisa stepped toward the door. "Thanks for the interview."
Lucia leaned back in her chair again, arms folded.
"Oh, we're not done yet."
Lisa paused.
Lucia gave her a grin that didn't reach her eyes.
"Tell your man I said hi. Let's see how long he lasts this time."
Lisa didn't reply.
She walked out the door.
And Lucia just sat there.
Still.
Silent.
Smiling.
But her jaw was tight.
And her nails were digging into her palm.
...
Lucia stayed seated long after Lisa left, staring at the closed door like it might crack open again. Her fingers relaxed from the fist they'd curled into, red crescent marks pressed into her palm.
"Charlie Harper," she muttered.
That name tasted different now... bitter, almost sweet in a sick way.
She stood, walked to the minibar, and poured two fingers of whiskey into a crystal glass. The drink burned going down, but she welcomed the sting. It sharpened her thoughts.
It wasn't about Charlie. Not the man, anyway. Not the promises, the gaslighting, the ghosting. It was the nights.
The raw, reckless sex that blurred the line between punishment and pleasure. Her office desk, papers scattered as they fucked over the desk and how he made her squirt all over. Her husband's bed, sheets still warm from doggy style. The bathroom mirror fogged up with her breath as Charlie fucked her hard while her husband clinked keys downstairs. The public park, the shadows, the pine needles, and his hand over her mouth so she wouldn't moan too loudly.
She hadn't missed Charlie.
She missed that version of herself. Dangerous. Desired. Powerful.
And now Lisa, a woman with clean lines and hopeful eyes, was trying to make Charlie into something new. Safe. Reformed. Redeemed.
Lucia smiled into her drink.
Men like Charlie didn't change. They adapted. Survived. Slithered into new skins to fool whoever they needed.
Lisa would learn. Or Lucia would show her.
An idea started to form in her twisted, sex-depraved mind.
She crossed the room, sat at her desk, and pulled up the candidate files. Lisa's name was still open on the screen. Qualifications solid. Experience decent. Polished, but not too polished. The perfect kind of competent. And most important?
Lucia clicked "Approve." Then she began to write an apology letter to Lisa for her behaviour and remarks about Charlie.
A formal offer would go out by morning along with the letter.
Let Lisa think she'd earned it on merit. And that apology letter was to earn her sympathy. Let her walk in smiling, grateful, trusting.
Let her bring Charlie back into orbit.
Lucia would wait. Watch. And when the cracks started to show... when Charlie began to drift, tempted by history and heat... Lucia would be right there.
...
[R&R PARKING LOT]
Charlie was sitting in his Mercedes like a man hiding from a hitman or worse, an ex-lover with power and unresolved kink trauma. His sunglasses were crooked. He'd already eaten three breath mints he didn't need. And the iced coffee in his cupholder was shaking like he was the one full of caffeine.
He was mid-anxiety muttering when...
KNOCK KNOCK.
"AHH!" Charlie jumped so hard his sunglasses nearly flew off.
Lisa stood outside his window, arms crossed, face unreadable.
He hit the unlock button and cracked the door open just enough to poke his head out like a scared meerkat.
"Okay, before you say anything," he blurted, "I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry."
Lisa blinked. "For what?"
"For… all of it." He opened the door fully and stepped out. "You might not get the job because of me, and that's not fair. I never told you about Lucia because, well, it was messy. Dangerous-messy. Brain-melty-messy. Lifetime-movie-messy."
Lisa narrowed her eyes. "I gathered that. She said you ghosted her."
Charlie groaned. "Okay. Look. Here's the full story. The unfiltered, unsexy, potentially-legally-problematic version."
He took a deep breath and leaned against the car, running a hand through his hair.
"So… four months ago, I met her. Lucia. At a bar. She was magnetic. Confident. Hot in a 'might poison your soup and make you thank her for it' kind of way. We hit it off. Fast. It wasn't just sex, it was therapy with orgasms."
Lisa folded her arms. "You're really bad at metaphors."
"True. But also, we were bad. Hotels, cars, once in her office while she yelled at an intern on speakerphone. It was toxic... and electric." He sighed. "And then, ten days in... just ten and she drops this on me: 'I want to cuckold my husband. I want you to fuck me while he watches. I want you to put a baby in me, Charlie. Right in front of him.'*"
Lisa's jaw went slack. "Wait! What?"
Charlie held up both hands like he was under arrest. "I SWEAR TO GOD. We were mid-post-sex nachos when she said it. I thought it was a joke. I laughed. She didn't. She was dead serious. Said she wanted me to 'dominate her while he wept in the corner.' Her words. Not mine."
Lisa looked mildly horrified. "Okay... ew."
Charlie nodded. "Exactly. I freaked out. Left the hotel. Didn't look back. Blocked her number. Changed my number. Prayed."
Lisa blinked. "And then?"
Charlie looked her dead in the eye. "Next day. BOOM. Husband's dead. Electrocution in the tub. She inherits everything. Now she's the CEO of R&R and giving you job interviews like she isn't possibly a high-functioning sociopath."
Lisa just… stared at him.
"I ghosted her not because I'm a jerk," Charlie added.
She gave her that look...
"Ok. Fine. Maybe a little. But I didn't wanna be the next guy found with a toaster cord around his neck."
There was a long, tense pause.
Lisa tilted her head. "So… you think she killed her husband?"
Charlie nodded slowly. "I'm not saying she did. But I'm saying I'm very glad I didn't give her my home address or favorite jogging trail."
Lisa took a step back, hand on her hip, mind clearly processing. "So… you slept with a woman who may be a murderer, dipped the moment things got psycho, then ghosted her, and now she's my potential boss."
Charlie nodded again, sheepishly. "That's the gist."
Lisa stared at him.
Then… she exhaled and laughed once, hard and sharp. "Jesus, Charlie. Only you."
Charlie gave a hopeful half-smile. "I'm really sorry, Lis. I didn't mean for you to get caught in this… murder-sex-business triangle. I just didn't want to ruin your shot at something better.
"What's done is done," she said simply.
Charlie blinked. "Wait… that's it?"
She gave a small shrug. "You were honest. For once. And yeah, you ghosted a woman who may or may not have killed her husband with a hairdryer, which, Jesus Christ, Charlie, but you didn't lie to me. Not now. And that's progress."
He tilted his head, cautiously hopeful. "So… you're not mad?"
"Oh, I'm annoyed," Lisa said, her voice sharp but not cruel. "You've dated more red flags than a matador. But I knew what I was signing up for when I crawled back into your bed."
Charlie winced. "Yeah, but..."
Lisa held up a hand. "You've changed. I see it. You're still an idiot… but you're my idiot."
A grin pulled at Charlie's lips. "That means you're still moving in?"
Lisa nodded. "Yup. I'm taking the deal."
He lit up. "Seriously?"
"Yeah. Free rent, ocean view, and a man who eats me out like it's a damn juicy mango?" She smirked. "I'd be stupid not to."
Charlie blinked. "Wow. That might be the most romantic thing anyone's ever said to me."
Lisa chuckled. "Don't let it go to your head."
He stepped forward, taking her hand. "So, what about the job?"
Lisa looked over her shoulder at the R&R building, then back at him. "I'll find another one. I'm not about to work for a woman who keeps a psychological file on you and probably owns an unregistered dungeon."
Charlie exhaled. "Thank God. I was about five seconds away from moving us both to Hawaii."
She smirked. "Let's start with a drive to my place. I need to grab my stuff."
...
...
As Charlie drove the car out of the parking lot, Lisa began to run her hand on his crotch. Her hand began to fondle him.
He glanced down at her hand and then at her.
She had an innocent look on her face.
"You keep doing that and we're gonna get in an accident. Like that scene from Basic Instinct," He warned.
"Then you better focus on the road, and I'll focus on your cock."
The way she said those words and the feeling of her fingers touching his crotch made him stiffen up immediately.
Lisa pulled down his zipper and took out his cock... [To be continued...]🫡😬
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