I woke up slowly, clawing my way out of a lovely deep, restful sleep. I rubbed my hand over my eyes and yawned. My memory came rushing back to me and I remembered having sex with Rafael. It was the last thing I had planned on doing, but I remembered that in the moment, it had felt so right. He had been nothing but nice and attentive to me all night and while I knew it was an act, I couldn’t help but feel attracted to him, and when he kissed me, honestly, I just thought why not?

He wasn’t in the bed beside me and I looked around expecting to see him getting dressed, or maybe seeing the bathroom door closed while he was showering. But no. He was asleep on the couch where he had obviously spent the night. He must have gotten back out of the bed after I fell asleep.

I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about any of this, but Rafael being on the couch and not in the bed with me told me exactly how he felt about it. He regretted it. That was ok. I could say I did too, we made a mistake, blah blah blah, and then we could just put it behind us.

My decision made, I slipped out of bed, conscious of the fact that Rafael could wake up at any moment and I was naked. It was probably stupid after last night, but I couldn’t help but feel that way now he had chosen not to sleep in the bed with me.

I went into the bathroom and got a large fluffy white towel and wrapped myself in it, and then I went back to the bedroom. I sorted through my suitcase and found the white three quarter length pants and yellow vest top I wanted to wear that day. I found underwear and my toiletries bag and then I went into the bathroom.

I showered and washed my hair and then I brushed my teeth and I dried myself off and got dressed. I gathered up my dirty clothes from the night before and I went back into the bedroom.

“Morning,” Rafael said.

He was still on the couch, but he was sitting up, the blanket folded up beside him. He was wearing a pair of white boxer shorts and nothing else and instantly I remembered the way his skin had felt on mine, the way he had moved inside of me and made me come so hard I had feared I would pass out.

“Good morning,” I said as casually as possible.

I turned my back to Rafael. Seeing his naked, muscular chest was bad for my resolve. I began to unpack my clothes and hang them up in the wardrobe with his, more so that I had a reason to have my back to him without being rude than for any real urge to not live out of my suitcase.

I had moved on to putting my underwear in one of the drawers when Rafael spoke up behind me.

“So about last night,” he said. He sounded like he didn’t really know what to say next, but I had no idea what to say and I hadn’t been the one to bring it up, so I wasn’t about to bail him out. Instead, I made a hmm sound and waited for him to go on. “I … Well, I wanted to apologize. I don’t know what came over me. The drinking, the dancing, and that night dress you were wearing … Yeah. I shouldn’t have acted on the way I felt though.”

I shrugged my shoulders and finally turned to look at him.

“It wasn’t exactly one sided. We both drank a bit too much and well, shit happens right,” I said with a smile.

“Right,” Rafael confirmed. “So, what now? We just act like it never happened and get on with the rest of the week?”

“Yes,” I said. “And we keep it professional from now on.”

“Agreed,” Rafael said. He looked like he was going to say something else but then he gave his head a small shake and when he did speak, I felt like it wasn’t whatever he had been planning on saying. “I’m going to quickly get showered and dressed and then should we go and have some breakfast? I’m starving.”

I opened my mouth to say yes, but my stomach chose that moment to growl and instead, we both laughed.

“I think that’s answer enough,” I said as Rafael headed for the bathroom, and I sat down at the desk to put some make up on. That hadn’t gone half as badly as I had expected it to.

“Oh wow that’s amazing,” I moaned as I swallowed my bite of bacon sandwich.

The bread was fresh and soft, and the bacon was cooked to perfection, crispy and salty and delicious. Evelyn smiled at me over the top of her tea cup. She sipped her tea and then she laughed softly.

“You know, that reminds me of something from when Rafael was just a boy,” she said.

“Oh no, don’t Grandma,” Rafael said, but he was laughing indulgently and we all knew she was going to tell the story and he wasn’t going to object to it any more than he already had.

“Rafael always loved bacon when he was small. He would have had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner if his parents would have let him,” Evelyn said. “Well one day, we took him and Sammy on a day out to a working farm where they had animals you could pet and feed and you could look around at all of the equipment and what not. Raf fell in love with this little piglet named Shirley and when it was time it leave, he cried because he had to leave her. Anyway, he got over it and as far as we knew, that was that.

“But nope. A few months later when we had all but forgotten about Shirley, Rafael came home from day care crying. He was inconsolable and he wouldn’t tell anyone what was wrong. Eventually, his mom got it out of him though. He had learned where bacon came from and of course that made him think of Shirley and the fact that someone would one day eat her. He swore off bacon that day and it was a good two or three years before he wanted any again. My husband was alive then, and he asked Rafael what had changed his mind and do you know what he said? As serious as the day is long he looks at his grandpa and shrugs his shoulders and says Shirley will be long eaten now. I don’t care about the other pigs.”

Rafael and I laughed along with her. She really was entertaining and the way she told her story only made it better. She knew just when to pause and when to carry on. She smiled when she saw she was making us laugh and I decided to take full advantage of this situation, while still playing my part of the good girlfriend.

“Do you have any more stories about Rafael?” I asked. “The more embarrassing the better.”

“There was the time when he got completely obsessed with his little willy,” Evelyn said with a wicked glow on her cheeks as she grinned.

“Oh, Grandma no, not that one,” Rafael said.

“Shush now,” Evelyn said. She looked at me. “You want to hear it right?”

“Absolutely,” I said.

Rafael stood up and at first, I thought he was leaving in anger, but I saw he was smiling and shaking his head.

“I can’t talk you out of it, but I don’t need to hear it. I’m going to go and get you another pot of tea Grandma,” he said.

As Rafael walked away, Evelyn grinned at me.

“He wasn’t even three when it started. It was like he just sort of discovered his willy one morning and once he knew about it, he had to be touching it. Like all of the time. And not through his clothes might I add,” Evelyn said. We both laughed at the last part and then Evelyn carried on. “Now that was bad at home, but it was even worse at day care. Harry and Sofia got called in for a meeting with day care centre manager and they went along wondering what was so serious they both had to be present for it.

“Well they got there and the manager explained to them that Rafael had gotten into the habit of pulling down his pants and his underwear and holding his willy. Not playing with it per se, just … holding it,” Evelyn said.

I shrieked with laughter, unable to stop myself from picturing it. Tears streamed down my face and Evelyn nodded her head.

“That’s pretty much the reaction Harry and Sofia had, but the day care centre manager didn’t find it very funny at all and she informed them that Rafael was no longer welcome at the day care centre,” Evelyn said.

“And now Grandma likes to tell people that I once got thrown out of a day care centre for touching my willy,” Rafael added, sitting back down with a fresh pot of tea for Evelyn. “With no context, you can imagine the horrified silence that follows that statement.”

I was laughing so hard I was in danger of snorting, but I reeled myself in slightly. Evelyn nodded her agreement to Rafael’s statement.

“You have no idea how much fun it is to do that,” Evelyn said. “Once I explain it’s always alright. They think it’s just because I’m old that I worded it badly. I don’t want to disappoint any one so I let them think they’re right. But we know differently don’t we Rafael?”

Rafael made a grunting sound which could have meant anything but Evelyn seemed content enough to take it as agreement. Rafael poured her a fresh cup of tea and added a splash of milk.

“Be careful,” he said when she reached for it. “Remember it’s fresh so it’ll be hot.”

Evelyn patted his lower arm and smiled at him and then at me.

“He’s a good boy,” she said. “But you know that already don’t you dear?”

I smiled and nodded my head. I could hardly do anything else in my role.

“Stop it, you’re embarrassing me,” Rafael said, but I could see he was trying not to smile at her praise.

He really did seem to think the world of the old lady and when he was with her, it was like a different side to him came out. He was caring and gentle and attentive. The more I saw of him interacting with Evelyn, the more I saw that sweet side of him, and I was starting to think that maybe there was more to him than I had thought. Maybe the cold hard exterior was just an act put on in the office to stop anyone thinking he was too soft. Maybe outside of the office, he was this genuinely nice person.

Stop it, I told myself. Don’t even start to go there.

Having sex with Rafael was one thing, because there was no denying that he was hot as hell. But actually liking him? Ugh no.