Unexpected Encounter: A Second Chance at Love

[8:00 PM, Collins Corporation]

[Andrew's private resting longue]

Gently caressing the bluish mark on her shoulder, Andrew frowned, "Was I too rough?"

"By rough if you mean amazing then yes—" she smiled as she covered her chest with the duvet before snuggling closer.

He kissed the back of hand and sighed. "I will be careful next time."

Looking at the marks he had left all over her body, he realised he had gone overboard. He got carried away in the situation and overdid everything.

As guilt surged his heart, he hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head.

"How come I have never seen this room before?" She inquired. They had been married for months and this was the first time she was seeing or stepping into it.

"I used to stay here when I was in the city for a day or two," he answered. "I haven't used it since we got married."

"Why didn't you stay with your relatives when you were in the city?"

During Grandma Collins' funeral, Rachael learned how big the Collins family was. Though she didn't get time to see or personally greet everyone as most of them left the very next day, the relatives she had met were very kind and generous. They also seemed to care a lot about Andrew.

"I don't like bothering others," he answered. "Though almost everyone always insisted I stay with them, especially aunt Gloria."

"Aunt Gloria?"

He nodded. "Hmmm, she is my father's cousin sister. Our family was very close to her when my parents were still around. You haven't met her yet but she said she will visit soon."

"That's nice, I like seeing your relatives." She buried her face in his neck. "Let me know at least a couple of days before she visits, I'll make proper arrangements for her."

"Okay." He kissed the top of her head. "Come on now, let's go home."

"Can't we just stay here tonight?" She sighed. "I am exhausted."

"Alright, I'll ask someone to get some clothes for tomorrow." He agreed without any hesitation. If his wife wanted to spend the night in the longue, how could he deny it? He would agree even if she wanted them to spend the night at the roadside.

.....

[Next Day, Ben's Office]

Taking a sip of his morning coffee, Ben fiddled with his phone as he impatiently shook his leg.

It had been twenty minutes since he had been contemplating whether to or not to text Tina.

After she drew a clear line between them and went for her business trip, they had lost all touch.

After thinking for a minute more, he placed his cup down and unlocked his phone.

'How bad can a text be?' he told himself as he opened her DM.

[Ben: Hey, I was wondering how you are?]

He groaned and deleted the content before typing a new one.

[It's been days since I heard from you. I hope you are okay…]

As he was analysing the text which sounded a bit more reasonable and sane than the first one, someone knocked at the door.

When he saw who it was, he quickly got up. "Good morning boss."

Andrew nodded as he walked in. "Why are you in so early?" He glanced at his wrist watch. "It's not even eight yet."

"I—" Ben awkwardly cleared his throat as he tried to come up with an excuse. He could obviously not tell his boss that he had purposely left home early because he was feeling anxious and restless thinking about a woman.

"Ben, is everything okay?" Andrew anxiously inquired as he sat down near him.

Just like Rachael, even he had noticed something amiss about him. At first, he refrianed himself from asking him anything as he could figure out it was related to Tina and someone personal. But he couldn't hold himself back anymore.

"Don't think of me as your boss," Andrew added. "Think of me as a friend and your brother."

When he did not say anything, he inquired, "Is it related to a woman?"

Contemplating for a while, Ben slowly nodded.

"Tina?" When he did not respond, Andrew sighed. "I honestly don't see any problem between the two of you. I mean both of you are single. She likes you and you clearly like her. Why are you both tormenting each other?"

"Unless—" He raised his brows. "You are the one tormenting yourself and that poor woman."

When Ben lowered his head and sighed, Andrew pinched the space between his brows and frowned. "What I am about to say might sound very rude but you need to hear this."

Paying for a while, Andrew remarked, "You are killing your happiness for a woman who dumped your ass, killed your baby and married someone else."

"Ben, I know what happened to you was very unfortunate and heartbreaking but life doesn't stop there, does it?" He added. "You are willing to throw your entire life on a woman who basically cheating on you and ruined your entire life."

Without waiting did Ben's reply, Andrew scoffed, "You know what that makes you? Stupid Ben, that makes you stupid."

"There is this great woman right in front of you, who is willing to love you, care of you, be with you despite the odds and you are casting her away because you think you are still not over that toxic ex of yours? And I can easily guess that even you wanna love her, care for her."

"Could you be any more stupid?" He got up. "Think about it and fix it before it's too late. Women are weird, when they decide to love someone, they do it with all their heart and soul but since they give up, there is no turning that around. She will toss you out of her life like you were nothing."

When Andrew was about to leave, Ben stopped him.

"B-Boss—" When he stopped, Ben grabbed a bag from the couch chair and approached him. "Your clothes—"

Andrew sighed and grabbed the bag. "Think about it and do something before it gets to the point where nothing can be changed."

...