Chapter 2 The One Night Stand

"Let's get some fresh air," Mike suggested, and Lizzy readily agreed. They stepped outdoors onto the deck, a cool breeze kissing their skin. The megacity lights twinkled as stars above them glittered in the sky, casting a show of colors.

"Do you lament taking this position?" Mike inquired while leaning against the rail and his attention fixed on the horizon.

"Not at all, it's a dream come true," she replied, glancing up at him.

"Good. You earned it," he said, turning to her. She felt their eyes lock, and her breath hitched in her throat. "But Lizzy; is this what you actually want?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, caught off guard.

"Working for a man like me, it can at times be complicated," he stated with a serious tone.

"I'm up for such challenge," she declared, while feeling a swell of confidence.

He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Is that so? Because I promise you, I can be quite a challenge." The air thickened with tension that was unspoken, and Lizzy's sense of reasoning ceased under the weight of his intense gaze.

Suddenly inspired, Lizzy lifted her chin up defiantly. "Bring it on."

With a raptorial radiance in his brown eyes, Mike closed the gap between them. In a moment, their chemistry erupted. His lips brushed against hers, transferring sparks and sending down chill to her spine. The kiss was intoxicating - a blend of passion and urgency that set the world around them alight.

Lizzy completely melted into him and their bodies pressed together firmly as the kiss intensified. In the moment, they lost themselves totally. Noise from the gala kept fading away until it was just them - two souls merged together by passion.

As what seemed to them like an eternity passed, they parted piecemeal breathless. "Wonderful," she said in a whisper while her cheeks flushed.

"Wonderful indeed," he replied chuckling, but behind his eagerness was a sober reflection. "What next? Where do we go from here?"

Lizzy's heart struggled, full of doubts of their coming step. His questioning aspect started to weigh down on her, and as uncertainty set in, her instincts screamed for caution and for embracing the exhilarating unknown as well.

"Let's go back," Lizzy suggested, trying to recapture her countenance, though her heart still yearned for more excitement.

But Mike seized her hand gently, pulling her back. "Just one further kiss," he muttered, and this time there was no form of resistance. Their lips met again, an admixture of passion and craving, until they were completely swept down by the moment, consumed by the desire they had both tried to ignore for so long.

In subsequent moments, in Mike's hotel luxury suite, the alcohol's warmth seemed to have overwhelmed them, leading to an unanticipated but passionate rollout of their underpinning passions - a one-night stand which Lizzy never anticipated to have with her boss.

In the aftermath, wrapped in the beddings, Lizzy felt a surge of self-query. What have they done? It was one thing to partake a connection, but crossing that line complicated their professional relationship. They had blurred the lines between master and employee, and the reality of Monday morning hanged menacingly like a shadow over them.

Mike stirred beside her, his eyes still heavy with sleep. He looked at her, an admixture of warmth and vulnerability reflecting in his aspect. "What's next?" he inquired, thereby breaking the slight tension that hung in the air.

Lizzy considered her answer. She had been so engrossed by this whirlwind of feelings that she hadn't considered the consequences. Was this just an evanescent lapse? Or could this be the commencement of something more profound?

"I... I can't really say," she responded honestly, with the feeling of apprehension. "This can only instigate confusion."

He nodded while he went into a deep thought.

"Of course I know. I never planned for this to happen. You know, this is a business trip. But it appears I got betrayed by my feeling, which was actually undeniable."

"Same with me," Lizzy admitted. "However, we've to show concern to our jobs and how this could affect things."

"Can we just follow things one day at a time, " he suggested. "We don't actually have to rush into things. While observing, we can slowly flow with the wind."

Lizzy stayed still for a moment, while her heart kept pounding in anticipation. She hardly thought her life would take such a passionate course, especially not in Mike's caliber. She kept nursing the uncertainties of the near future, similar to the excitement that kept popping up in her heart.

"Alright," she stated eventually. Conditional smile spread across her face. "Let's take it just a day at a time."

They threw the moment open. Uncharted course stretched before them: A course where passion would eventually mingle with reality.

While Lizzy was sitting up, gazing through the window as the dawn broke over New York she could hardly shake off the feeling that a threshold had been crossed by them into an extraordinary sphere.

However, the yet to be answered question remained: would they be courageous enough to navigate it together?