My Billionaire Ex Beg For A Second Chance-Chapter 36: Her Stupid Eyes and His Stupid Lips
"Mommy, why didn’t Uncle Felix come with us today?" Maya chirped from the back seat as Katherine helped her into her car seat.
Katherine fastened the seatbelt securely before moving to the other side to help Nathan. As expected, Maya was the morning chatterbox, her curly hair bouncing as she wriggled in her seat, while Nathan sat quietly, staring out the window like he always did.
"He probably had to go to the office early today," Katherine replied, brushing Maya’s hair gently behind her ear. "Maybe he had urgent thing to take care of."
Breakfast with the kids had become their little routine with Felix. He always came, but not today.
It wasn’t every single day, of course. Sometimes Felix was out of town, or occasionally under the weather and staying home. Those were the obvious absences—ones with explanations she could easily package and offer to her children without thinking twice.
But this morning was different.
And the worst part was, she knew why he hadn’t come.
Maya pouted, tilting her head. "But... didn’t he miss us?"
Katherine chuckled softly, sliding into the driver’s seat. "Of course he does. But it hasn’t even been that long since we saw him."
"I miss Uncle Felix every day," Maya mumbled dramatically, crossing her arms.
Katherine smiled at the rearview mirror. Her daughter had a flair for theatrics that reminded her too much of herself at that age.
They arrived at the kindergarten just before the bell. Katherine helped the twins out of the car, fixing Nathan’s collar and straightening Maya’s backpack straps.
"Alright, go on in. Love you both. Be good."
Maya threw her arms around her mom’s waist, and Nathan gave a small nod, following his sister into the colorful building.
As soon as she returned to the driver’s seat, Katherine sighed. Her fingers lingered on the steering wheel.
Today was going to be... interesting.
She stared at her reflection in the rearview mirror, fixing a stray hair. "Katherine, be cool," she told herself under her breath. "Everything’s okay. Just another day at the office."
The memory of Felix leaning in that night—the look in his eyes, the way he almost kissed her, the intensity of it all—rushed back like a wave of fizzy champagne. She needed to breathe. She needed to not think about that.
Katherine then pulled out of the parking lot, hands steady on the wheel. By the time she reached the office parking lot, her jaw ached from how tightly she’d been clenching it.
She parked. Turned off the car.
Then sat still.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
She adjusted her blazer, checked her lipstick in the mirror, then nodded. Not perfect. But close enough.
Ninety percent sure she was herself again.
That would have to do.
She then climbed out of the car and walked into the building. Her heels clicked with a confident rhythm on the marble floor, even though inside, her stomach was doing somersaults.
As she reached their floor, she headed toward her desk but couldn’t resist sneaking a glance at Felix’s office. Maybe he wasn’t in yet.
Of course, fate was cruel.
Just as she leaned a little to peek through the frosted glass, the door swung open.
Out walked Felix. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
Katherine straightened like she’d been electrocuted.
"Hi, Felix—I mean, Mr. Crawford. Good morning to you too!"
Why did she add that last part? What was wrong with her?
Felix blinked, seemingly amused by her fluster. His dark suit was perfectly pressed, his shirt open just at the collar, and his expression was calm—which only made her own feel more ridiculous.
"Are you okay there?"
Katherine forced a smile and nodded quickly. "Yeah. Fine. Just... Monday jitters, I guess."
God. Could she have picked a more painfully obvious excuse? He probably saw right through it. Of course he did—he wasn’t an idiot. She turned and made a beeline to her desk, internally wincing.
"Okay," Felix said lightly, the corners of his mouth twitching. He didn’t press, just gave her a final glance before heading down the hall toward the bathroom.
Katherine slumped in her seat with a groan, reaching for the nearest folder and lightly smacking herself in the forehead with it. "Get a grip, Katherine," she muttered.
The day went on in a blur of meetings, emails, and calendar updates. Katherine threw herself into work, grateful for the distraction. At least paperwork didn’t come with soulful gazes or near-kisses.
Just after lunch, she was organizing the weekly report when Felix buzzed her in.
"Come in."
She gathered the folder with slightly trembling hands and stepped into his office. He sat behind his desk, one hand holding a pen, the other tapping the surface absentmindedly.
"Here’s the updated finance report," she said, placing the folder neatly on his desk.
Felix flipped it open, brows furrowing as he scanned the page. Then he pointed to a graph. "What’s this anomaly here? This section’s showing a twenty percent fluctuation compared to last quarter."
Katherine leaned in closer to see where he was pointing. "Oh, that’s from the restructuring in our logistics department. We switched carriers in early April, and it caused a dip initially before stabilizing. It should balance out by next month."
She realized too late just how close they were. Her hand brushed his wrist as she pointed to another note, and when she looked up, her gaze collided with his. Their faces were barely inches apart.
And God help her, she looked at his lips.
Those same lips that almost touched hers just days ago. The memory was too fresh. Too vivid.
Her heart gave a ridiculous thump.
"Excuse me," she blurted, straightening up so fast she nearly knocked the folder off the desk.
She caught it mid-air and gave a strained smile. "I’ll go update the rest of the files now."
Without waiting for his reply, she turned and walked out of the office as casually as her racing heart would allow. Her stride was stiff, too practiced, and once she was back at her desk, she collapsed into her chair.
She didn’t even care if anyone saw her covering her face with both hands.
"My stupid eyes and his stupid lips," she groaned.
The day wasn’t even over yet.
