To say that it had been embarrassing for Nicholas Bennet to walk out of the women's restroom of his company cafeteria shirtless, wearing only his jacket and the face of a serial killer, was an understatement.

He had resisted the temptation to trash his office, because in the end the poor office was not to blame for the existence of women like her.

He took deep breaths all the way to his apartment, but by the end of that night, he couldn't stop three or four ornaments from going crashing into the wall.

It was true that he was stupidly distracted on his cell phone, and he had been quite ready to apologize until his eyes had met those of that woman. She was of medium height, beautiful as a goddamn mermaid and with the voice of one, even while angry. She had long, curly, brown hair, brown, defiant eyes, and a body to stare at until the end of time.

That was what had bothered him. He could smell it, feel it, sense it: she was one of those women capable of dragging a man's heart under the heel of her shoe and moving on without looking back.

He looked at the single photo that adorned one corner of his living room cabinet. The photo of a middle-aged man that looked pensive and sad: his father. Nicholas had taken it himself fifteen years ago... literally, half a lifetime ago. He had taken it two days before his father blew his head off with a 28 caliber revolver. And he had done it for a woman like her, a woman who hadn’t had enough with just him, who had a lover every month: his beloved mother, Layla Bennet.

“I've tried all my life to stay away from women like that,” he said, speaking to the photograph. “I swear I learned from your mistakes, father. I swear I learned,” he muttered.

But learning was one thing and getting her out of his head was quite another. Try as he might to distract himself, the way she had taken off her blouse, that damned bra that made him long for everything underneath, the defiance in her voice, the shape of her mouth, that flirtatious wink before she left... He couldn't stop thinking about it all. He couldn't stop thinking about her, and he didn't know if he hated her or hated himself more for not being able to control it.

Hopefully the week would start in a better way, with a lot of work to occupy his head and with nothing that would let him think about where that woman would be.

Valeria, on the other hand, after playing matchmaker with Lazlo and Oli, had finally finished her registration and the girl had taken her to her cubicle. It was very small and bright, but Valeria had never had her own office, so she was delighted.

Emma had welcomed her back with open arms because she knew that the delay could only mean that she had been given the job.

“Do you know what we're going to do now, baby?” said Valeria to Alice, sitting down next to her.

“Mmmm... aren't you going to scream when the landlady comes to collect the rent?” asked the girl and Valeria smiled.

“Noooo... I'm not going to scream anymore, but that's not all, we're going to get a present for your friend's birthday!”

“Really?” Alice asked excitedly.

Two weeks ago, Alice had asked for a present for a school friend, who had invited her to her birthday. It was so hard for her to socialize that it broke Valeria's heart to have to say no, but now she didn't have to, now she could buy it.

So, if for Nick the weekend was torture, for Valeria it was two days of absolute bliss. Of course, all that would change when Monday arrived.

At seven thirty in the morning, she would stop to get two cups of coffee to go and in her best clothes and stilettos, ride the elevator up to her office. Oli thanked her for the coffee and introduced her to everyone in the design department. They all looked at her with a bit of pity when they heard she was the new designer for the lingerie department, so she was getting an idea of what was to come.

“Well... all you have to do now is meet the big boss,” Oli sighed anxiously.

“What's he like?” Valeria asked, sitting cross legged on the desk.

“Our CEO is as attractive as he is obnoxious... which means he is very, very attractive,” Oli muttered, and Valeria almost spit out her coffee with laughter.

“Does that mean he's a top-notch asshole?”

“He takes the prize, but… Get off, get off!” Oli suddenly urged her. “Here he comes!”

Valeria looked up at the stern-faced figure coming out of the elevator and her first instinct was to drop behind Oli's desk and hide under it.

“Shit, shit, shit!” she thought closing her eyes because it was impossible not to recognize the demigod whose shirt she had taken off in the cafeteria bathroom two days before. “There’s no way! No way!” Now that was bad luck, having her first contact with the CEO with such an impact... of her left knee in his crotch! “God!”

“Good morning, Oli.” that husky, manly voice said.

“Good morning, sir”.

“Please, call all the designers to the boardroom in ten minutes. We are going to discuss the collections for the distributors' fashion show. Thank you.”

Five seconds later, Oli's whisper was heard:

“Val... Val!”

“What?” she asked, sticking out her head.

“It’s not that you don't look pretty on all fours under my desk, but you heard him, you have a meeting in ten minutes,” Oli told her. “I didn't know you were shy. Why did you hide?”

“I already met him. Not on the best terms... Long story!” she replied, slinking off to her small office.

Eight minutes later, she was mingling with thirty other designers moving into the boardroom. She tried to stay back, hidden in the crowd, hoping he wouldn't see her, and it didn't seem difficult considering Nick Bennet barely glanced at his audience after he said hello.

“Good morning, everyone,” he began. “As you know, in three weeks' time we have an important fashion show for one of our biggest distributors, Andrew Davies. Every year we design exclusive collections for them. Two months ago, Davies Enterprises fired one of our competitors, so this is our chance to obtain contracts in areas we had not been able to win before.”

Everyone knew he was referring to the lingerie area, but no one said anything.

“Good. We'll do this by departments: Bruno,” he said to the head designer of the men's line, “you are always the fastest one, please, see to it that all lines deliver their design portfolios by Friday. Anna, last year's women's gala collection was very much to his liking, make sure you include one this year as well…” He slowly distributed the tasks and deadlines until he got to what Valeria feared the most. “And lastly, women's lingerie...” They did not have a head of design. “Those of you working in this area will hand over the designs to Anna. I understand we have a new member,” he said, looking into a file, “Valeria Williams... Valeria Williams?”

Valeria swallowed dryly, stepping out of the crowd she was in and lowering the folder she was using to cover her face with.

Nick turned to where the movement was, and his face reflected rage-filled surprise for exactly five seconds when he recognized her. Then, he was back to his usually impassive, stern self.

“The meeting is over. Everyone back to work. Miss Williams!” he called to her before she dared to leave. “To my office! Now.”

He left, buttoning his coat, and Valeria took a deep breath. She knew that her first battle with the CEO of that company would come sooner or later, Layla had announced it to her, but she didn't expect it to be within half an hour of starting work.

She entered the office and closed behind her, approaching the desk. Nick stood there, staring out of the huge window on the twentieth floor.

“What the hell are you doing in my company?!” he hissed without looking at her, in a voice that shook her.

“I'm the new designer of the lingerie department,” she answered with a serenity she was far from feeling.

“I don't want women in my company who use their... influence to get a job!” he said, this time looking at her with contempt, and Valeria felt that all those imaginary cannons she had in her body came to the surface.

“Excuse me?!” she exclaimed, putting her hands on the spotless desk. “What exactly are you trying to say?”

“That if you think being the girlfriend of the little boy from Human Resources is going to get you—”

“Be very careful, Mr. Bennet!” Valeria warned him while trying to control herself. “I'm not Lazlo's girlfriend or anyone else's for that matter. In fact, when you saw us in the cafeteria, I was accompanying him to buy a coffee for Oli because she is the one he likes. I was hired by Mrs. Bennet, your mother. She hired me because she liked my designs... and I didn't have to show her my bra to get her to give me anything!”

Nick's face turned so red that Valeria thought he would transform into a wolf from one moment to the next; he was only lacking the fur. Still, Valeria's gaze remained defiant.

“You're fired! Get out of my company! Now!”

“Well, I'm not going anywhere,” Valeria replied, putting her hands on her hips. “My contract says I'm going to work in this company for three months and that's what I'm going to do”.

“You're on probation...”

“No, I'm not. I was hired as a junior designer for three months to work only for the lingerie department. And I'm going to do my job whether you like it or not!”

“This is my company!” Nick roared on the verge of collapse. Never before had a designer... never before had anyone confronted him so brazenly! “Either you get out of here or I'll have you thrown out by security.”

“Then ‘your’ company and you in particular are going to be sued for wrongful termination if you get me out of here. And between a man of your size and a poor innocent girl like me, we both know who will come out worse off,” Valeria threatened. “So, you can get tired of shouting “You're fired! You're fired!” all you want, but I'm not leaving here! Have a nice day!”

She went to the door, wiggling her butt as God intended, and closed the door softly because although she was angry, she was still a lady.

“Well, Valeria, you've already thrown the noose around your neck,” she said to herself to give herself strength. “Now kick your feet!”