Jan's legs shook as he repeatedly pummeled into Clarissa. The bed creaked beneath them and he was certain her neighbors could hear their loud moans and heavy breathing but he couldn't find it in himself to care. Not when he could taste his orgasm.

"Harder," she begged, whimpering into the crook of his neck. "Harder, Jan."

Jan wasn't so sure how much harder he could go when he was already fucking her harder than he intended to, but he rolled her onto her back and spread her knees for better access. He pressed her into the mattress, buried himself deeper into her until he could feel her insides clenching.

"Fuck," he groaned, thrusting faster than he thought possible.

She took his hand and covered her mouth with it, screaming into it as her orgasm tore through her. Jan wasn't breathing when he climaxed, releasing himself into her with a loud sigh. He lowered his mouth to hers as they shared a passionate kiss.

The weight of his body dropped over hers as he panted into her cleavage. Then he broke away and rolled onto his back. "I hope you're still taking birth control."

"You ask that every time and my answer is still the same, yes," she replied with a dopey smile. "I think that was the best one yet."

Jan chuckled and drew her to his side.

"No seriously," she continued. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too. Work has been so hectic these past few months, this particular project is insane," he replied, dropping a kiss on her nose.

"What project?" she asked, shifting around on the bed until she was cuddled up beside him.

"It's nothing big," he replied.

"Nuh uh, don't do that. If it's keeping my boyfriend away from me then I want to know all about it," she said.

Jan sighed. "Fine, I needed to talk to you about this anyway," he said. "I'm trying to set up a new branch for Blue Sun."

"That's great, Jan," she cheered. "And you said it's nothing big? This is going to be the twentieth branch!"

"I know, don't make a big deal out of it. I already suffered through an office party with Rhea," he pleaded.

Clarissa rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm going to make a big deal out of it. I'm your girlfriend, that's my job."

"And I'm telling you to not do it."

"And I'm ignoring you." She shuffled around on the bed. "Hold on, let me get my bottle of Chardonnay and some glasses. We can at least drink to it."

"Wait. That's not all I wanted to talk to you about," he said.

She settled back on his chest. "Oh?"

"Yeah. The new branch is in Hillford, Ontario and—" he stopped and gave her a shaky smile even though she couldn't see it.

"So, what's wrong?"

"I'm going to move there for a while," he told her. "Just for the first few months. To make sure everything runs smoothly."

"Oh?" The disappointment in her voice was palpable. "That's reasonable, I guess."

"I'm leaving in two weeks."

"Wh—two weeks?" she got up from his chest. "Isn't that too soon?"

"The entire company has been working hard on this for the past year." He shifted his gaze from hers.

"A year?" she asked with raised brows. "You didn't say anything about this, Jan."

"I know but," he rubbed his face with his palm. "I just kept putting it off and then it was too late and I just— I'm sorry."

Clarissa scoffed as she got up from the bed, detangling herself from him.

"Rissa?" Jan called awkwardly.

"Stop talking," she snapped. Stalking over to her closet, she dressed herself up in sweatpants and a tank top.

"Let me understand this," she said when she was done. "You knew that you would be moving and you didn't think that this was information I would be interested in?"

"Don't be like that, let's just talk about this." he pleaded. "Long distance is an option I'm willing to try."

"You're not listening, Jan." She let out an unsteady breath. "I've been in a relationship with myself for the past seven months."

"Of course not! You're overreacting,"Jan said. "I just didn't know how to tell you."

"When did you tell Rhea?" she asked.

"I don't know, two months ago? What does this have to do with anything?" he got up from the bed to stand in front of her.

"You told her two months ago, Jan, but you give your girlfriend two weeks notice. Tell me that you think there's nothing wrong with that."

"I work with Rhea, Clarissa. Of course she'd know."

"Of course," Clarissa replied sarcastically.

"Don't tell me you're jealous of her, she's my employee," he said.

"I don't care about your relationship with her!" She yelled. "I care about the fact that I'm playing second fiddle."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jan threw his hands up in frustration.

"It means that you're practically a stranger to me. The only thing we have in common is sex."

"You know that's not true."

"But it is." Clarissa kneaded her forehead. "You never tell me anything. I mean, just look at this."

"I know and I'm sorry—"

"We've been dating for seven months and I've never been to your place."

"I'm renova—"

"I've never even met Rhea and she's your best friend."

"She's not my best friend, Clarissa."

"Every minute you're not with me, you're with her. She's your best friend."

"That's because we work together. She's my financial analyst, of course I'm going to see her everyday."

Clarissa shook her head. "This is not about her. This is about us and the fact that you don't trust me."

"I trust you," Jan argued but his voice was weak.

"You never tell me anything! The things I know about you, I know from Google and that's practically nothing. I can count on both hands the amount of times we've been on dates," she thundered. "You've never introduced me to your friends."

"I don't have friends."

"That is not the point," she snapped. Tears were streaming down her face and she settled on the edge of bed. "I'm in love with you, Jan, but if you don't—"

"I do... I love you."

"I don't believe you." She sniffed. "See, I know what I want and I know you don't want the same things."

"What are you saying?"

"I cannot do this with you anymore. I didn't want to accept it before but I see it now. We should break up."

Jan sighed. "I don't want that—"

"I don't care what you want. You've been playing with my feelings for so long, don't make this worse."

"I—"

"Just leave, Jan," she said firmly.

Jan knew when to give up, so he picked up his clothes that he had stripped in the heat of passion and slowly dressed himself. All the while, Clarissa cried silently on her bed.

"I really am sorry," Jan told her. "I didn't want things to end this way."

She didn't reply which was understandable so Jan picked up his coat and left her house quietly. He was grateful this was one of the days his driver had not dropped him off because it would have been embarrassing to have to call him this late.

He tried not to think of the breakup but it was inevitable. He felt bad, but that was it, he could not bring himself to feel hurt. Maybe it was because he knew Clarissa was right, he had been keeping her at arms length.

But that was mostly because he didn't see her fitting into his life. Especially with Project Hillford in play. She would have been too much of a distraction. And he really could not afford distractions. Not when he was finally so close.