Chapter 1 - the boy

Melissa remembered the way her heart had pounded and her eyes had flared open wide, the first moment she had laid eyes on Jared. At thirty-four, she really shouldn’t have been so immediately entranced by the hot new guy starting on the fifth floor. She was a good-looking girl herself, no longer newly divorced and happy enough with her single life as it was. She didn’t need a man to make herself feel complete; it was just the sex she missed most of the time. So when it came to guys like Jared, Melissa couldn’t help it. She stood there, rooted to the spot, losing herself entirely. The man was beautiful.

Fresh out of college, Jared stood tall, at an imposing height. His face looked as if it had been carved out by angels, so pretty and handsome. His hair was short, with a slight curl; dark brown and matching his soulful, deep eyes. Naturally broad and strapping, the young man had clearly won the genetic lottery; with the clothes he wore demonstrating just that fact to everyone who could see him.

“Hi,” Melissa smiled, accepting the man’s large hand and shaking it. She explained who she was and where she was based, knowing full well that it was pointless. Jared would have so many names to remember today on his initial walk around, there was no way he was going to remember any of it. “Just come and find me if you need any help. Anytime! I’m always here to help…” she smiled, cursing herself afterwards as she went back into her office for how pathetic and love-struck she must have sounded. “Anytime…” she whispered back to herself in a mocking voice. “I’m always here to help…” she sighed, slapping her hand on her head. Why did she always have to sound so damn desperate around hot boys? He must have sniffed it a mile off; some sex-starved woman over ten years his senior, flirting with him and twirling her fingers in her hair like she was a teenager again. She cringed and slapped herself on her forehead once again.

If there was one thing Melissa knew in that moment, it was this: she needed to get out more.