Chapter 24: Untie Me
Wanting to tease his friend, Caleb answered indifferently, "Of course, Katherine and I know each other before she joined our company. She even bought me coffee."
Damien's lip twitched upon hearing Caleb call her by her first name again. 'How close are they? And she bought him coffee too?'
Hearing Caleb's answer and Damien's questioning gaze, Katherine felt that she needed to clear the misunderstanding. "No, it's not like that. Caleb and I… well, h-he's a customer." She stammered.
Seeing Katherine panic, Caleb let out a chuckle.
"A customer?" Damien continued to stare at Katherine who's already starting to have sweaty hands.
Realizing that she wasn't making any sense, she tried once again. "I mean, I met him when I was still working at the store. He was a customer there and I paid for his coffee as an apology for my mistake."
Damien somehow understood what she just said and decided not to press on the matter. Brushing off his thoughts, he turned to Mr. Lim and said, "We'll check the facilities."
They spent the whole day at the resort making sure that everything was running smoothly. Katherine learned that Caleb was actually Crown Resort Group's COO. She had observed how Damien and Caleb's personalities were quite different from each other but both of them complemented one another.
For the first time, Katherine saw how Damien lead his people. He and Caleb were all business all throughout the day and Katherine was also busy learning and taking down everything that was needed to be noted. She had found another reason to admire this Resort King and it was all only because of how he was during the day while he was very thorough in the preparation of the resort's opening.
Damien had the kitchen staff prepare an early dinner for the three of them to eat before heading back to the city. It was already seven in the evening when they left the resort.
"What's your street address?" Damien asked as soon as he started the engine. His hands preparing the satellite navigation system.
"What?" Katherine became alarmed. "Why?"
"I'm driving you home."
'But I don't have a home right now.' She bit her lip as she thought and her heart began to race. "I need to go back to the office. I still have some things to finish."
Damien turned his face to her, "You don't have to do it today. Working hours is over and you've already done enough."
"But-"
"No buts. Tonight, you rest," Damien insisted thinking that he was just concerned about her.
How could he have known what was happening to Katherine?
Katherine clenched her hands upon hearing Damien's words. Uh-oh. What now?
Left with no choice, Katherine could only tell Damien Park her old apartment building's address.
…
The Jaguar came to a full stop in front of what was once Katherine's apartment building and she suddenly felt so attached to her seat that she did not want to get out. Getting off the car became harder for her. What is she doing there sticking around when she was already kicked out?
The next thing she knew, the door of the car opened and Damien bent forward to check on her. She instantly shrank into her seat, feeling trapped when Damien's smiling face was too close for comfort.
A very quick flash of someone's smile appeared before her. A vision of someone with a blurry face but has the exact same smile. It was very quick but it distracted Katherine from Damien's question.
"Ms. Miller," he called her the second time. "Do you want to stay in my car longer?" He teased as he backed away to give her space.
"Thank you, President Park." Katherine got off the car and received the shopping bags from him. She waited for Damien to leave but he waved his hand as if he was telling her to go inside.
Gripping her handbag, Katherine nodded and turned towards the stairs taking several steps up until she heard him drive away.
She breathed out a heavy sigh of relief as soon as Damien was no longer in sight. Katherine had to take the bus back to the city to get to the main office building. Since she was still homeless, she still had to spend the night inside the storage room.
Stretching her arms and legs, she felt her bones crack before she finally laid on the floor. It was the same hard and cold floor like yesterday but who was she to complain?
That night, she had a dream. In her dream, she was wearing an elegant red gown while dancing with a faceless man. She was sexy and she looked very confident in her dance with her sultry moves while the man matched her perfectly, looking like he knew exactly what he was doing.
The dance went on until the music ended and the crowd clapped their hands for them. As soon as she let go of the man's hands, everything went dark and the beautiful classical music was replaced with gunshots firing in different directions. Suddenly feeling her hands have become heavy, she looked down and saw herself carrying two guns.
A sound made her look up and what she saw made her body tremble. In front of her, she saw herself pulling the trigger to a man she didn't know.
*Bang*
Katherine woke up from the gunshot sound in her dream and found herself drenched in cold sweat. She was panting and was confused about why she had that kind of dream. Her heart was pounding in her chest as the scene was still fresh in her mind.
Lowering her head, she looked at her hands and the image of her carrying guns in her dream flashed, making her ball her hands into fists.
It was the first time that Katherine had this kind of dream. A beautiful start with a tragic ending and her dream suddenly became a nightmare. Feeling too sluggish at three in the morning, Katherine fell asleep again.
...
The next morning
Katherine looked more polished despite the nightmare that she had last night. She prepared coffee for herself and realized that her boss was already inside his office. There's a glass panel separating his office from her desk. She saw Natasha standing in front of his table and she figured that they were probably discussing something important.
Katherine and Damien's eyes met briefly before she lowered her gaze and focused on the documents on her desk.
"Ms. Miller, can you bring me a cup of coffee? Thanks." Damien's voice sounded from the small speaker on the office phone, surprising Katherine. He had never used it before, even Natasha told her that. So suddenly hearing his voice from the speaker made her jump a little. She pressed the small button beside it and replied, "Yes, right away, Sir."
Using the Keurig machine, Katherine made Damien's coffee. She was thankful that she listened to Natasha when she taught her how to use it. She noticed that Natasha wasn't a bad person after all the time that they have spent together but she was probably feeling bitter that she was going to leave so soon. When she was finally ready, she knocked on the door while balancing the tray on her hands.
"Come in," he said.
Carefully, Katherine brought the tray inside and placed the coffee on his desk. She did not notice what he was doing at first until she glanced up. That's when she saw Natasha helping him with his tie. She immediately excused herself and was about to walk away but Damien stopped her.
"Ms. Miller, stay." He said before turning to Natasha. "I already told you Ms. Saunders, you don't have to do this."
He backed away from the woman, letting the tie fall back to his chest. He never let other people except Markus Lee help him with his tie or coat. And since Natasha was leaving, she insisted to help him one last time. So when she saw Katherine coming inside the office, she immediately rushed forward and started to fix his tie.
Damien immediately saw through her and it annoyed him. "Thank you for your service. I wish you good luck with your career."
Natasha's hands that hung mid-air fell awkwardly and she clenched her jaw as she bowed her head. "Thank you, President Park," she said before leaving.
The CEO's room was silent when it was only the two of them left inside. Katherine stood tall as she faced the desk. Her eyes avoided looking at her boss until he called her, "Come help me with this tie."
She turned to him and saw him looking back at her with a questioning look. He waved the tie at her as if he was asking her to come.
"Ah, yes. Of course." Katherine walked around the desk and stood before him. Although Katherine was already tall for a woman, she still had to look up to Damien who was a few inches taller than her. She decided to settle her gaze on his tie and her hand raised to touch it but stopped herself.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I don't remember if I know how to do it," she slowly lifted her gaze and stared at him.
"Right." Damien revealed a playful smile as he recalled a certain memory and said, "That's okay, I prefer how skilled you are at untying them more."
Katherine almost choked when she heard his shameless confession.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
NixxxiE
NixxxiE Don't forget to vote!
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Chapter 25: Damien's Star
Katherine bit her tongue to prevent herself from retorting. How she wished that Damien wasn't her boss at this moment. She was annoyed by him and his shamelessness.
Although she tried so hard to seal her reaction, her brows had already betrayed her. Noticing her expression, Damien's lips formed into a thin line as he kept himself from smiling like a fool. He loved teasing and seeing her expressions.
Wanting to be over and done with it, Katherine grabbed his tie forcefully before randomly twisting and inserting the end here and there. Her fingers danced before him making Damien watch her with a surprised look. He didn't know if she was serious about it but her hands looked like they knew what they were doing.
She skillfully finished it by tucking it properly despite having the urge to choke her boss for what he just said.
A small smile appeared on her face, admiring the work that she just made. "There." She chuckled softly.
Damien turned a little to the side to see the tie for himself through the mirror and was surprised at how well it was done. Katherine was able to make the truelove knot which is a sophisticated yet complicated knot that takes a lot of time to perfect.
He turned to her once again and said, "I'm impressed. Where did you learn how to do this?"
Katherine shook her head as she answered, "I don't know… I was just randomly tying it. Is it that impressive?"
Nodding, Damien grabbed his coat from the hanger. "You're very talented, Ms. Miller."
"Am I? What else do I know?" Katherine tilted her head, evidently excited to know more about what else she was capable of.
After fixing his coat on him, Damien stared into her eyes and thought of another thing to tell her. "One thing's for sure… you're very…" His eyes lowered briefly on her body before looking back at her eyes and continued, "...flexible."
Damien saw the huge change in her expression from excitement to shock. Her eyes widened and her cheeks reddened as he walked past her. "I'm heading downstairs to meet someone for breakfast. In the meantime, send reminders for my meetings today," he said before he walked out of the office leaving Katherine all by herself – confused and embarrassed.
As soon as she was left alone, she released the air that she didn't know she was holding before she turned to look at the door. She sneered at it as if Damien was still there. 'This man! Why is he so damn shameless? How could he say things like those? How would he even know I'm flexible?!' She scoffed and puffed as she stomped her way towards her desk.
She scowled at the elevator and silently wished that it would break. "Stupid stupid King. Tch."
"Who are you calling stupid?" A man's voice startled Katherine that her pen flew.
She looked up to the familiar voice from the side and instantly smiled to see the gentle COO. "Good morning, Mr. Yoo." Katherine got up from her chair and greeted, she was flustered because of his sudden appearance but was happy to see his smiling face that morning. Unlike her boss who only knows how to annoy her all the time. "I meant the thing… this thing!" She raised the pen and smiled, "This thing is stupid. Stupid thing."
Chuckling, Caleb thought that she was very amusing. "How could you call something stupid, Ms. Miller? Did it do something to you?"
"Nothing much really, it was just a little annoying. What brings you by, Mr. Yoo? Are you here to see the President? He just stepped out."
"Oh, I see. I guess I'll just come back later then." Caleb was about to turn around when he remembered something. "By the way, I was going to call you earlier to ask if you were free to grab some coffee from the new coffee shop downstairs but I realized I don't have your number. I still owe you a cup of coffee."
"Ah, there's no need, Mr. Yoo," Katherine politely declined.
"Hmmm... I insist. I don't like owing someone something."
"Well, then… okay." Katherine handed her phone for Caleb to copy her phone number.
"Thanks. Have a great day, Ms. Miller," he said before heading towards the elevators.
Katherine started going over today's schedule and she made a face immediately. Her boss's schedule was jam packed that day and she noticed that he didn't even have time for lunch. Her brows scrunched up when she thought how Natasha crammed everything in one day without thinking about their boss' health. She scanned through the rest of the week and saw that it was similar. Meetings from nine to seven in the evening for three days straight.
Is this man on a marathon? Why does he need to work all day like this? She searched the schedule's addresses and found that Natasha wasn't efficient at all. She set one meeting to the next without considering the location and Katherine found a few that was a waste of time traveling back and forth when she could have just set up meetings that are near to each other instead of traveling across the city and then back on the same day.
Fixing her eyeglasses, she stretched her arms and started calling numbers and changing her boss's schedule.
"Hi, I was wondering if we can change the schedule for today's meeting? Instead of…" Katherine continued to make calls for an hour. Although she couldn't change half of the appointments, her boss's schedule for today and the rest of the week looked better. After finishing the phone call, she smiled as she edited the calendar on her computer.
"What are you doing?" A man's gentle voice sounded from in front of her while she was busy with her work.
Without looking up, Katherine ranted, "I'm rescheduling appointments to make it efficient because Natasha seemed to think that it's okay for the President to miss his lunch and waste time on the road."
"Hmmm… so you worry about your boss?"
"I just think that he should stay healthy, after all, a lot of people depend on him." Katherine sighed as she closed the window and looked up to the man who was talking to her. Her eyes grew wide when she realized that it was Damien Park.
The chair squeaked when she got up abruptly and stood straight in front of her boss. "P-P-President Park." She gulped before she lowered her head, "I apologize."
Though Katherine did not see it, Damien gave a genuine smile and lovingly looked at her for a few seconds before his smug look appeared. Patting her head gently, he said, "No need to apologize, you're doing great."
Damien placed a paper bag on her desk and a cup of hot chocolate. "Here, eat your breakfast."
She glanced at the paper bag full of pastry before she responded, "You didn't have to buy me this. What if I already ate breakfast? Then this will just be a waste."
"Why? Have you already eaten?"
"No…"
"Then it won't be a waste." Damien answered briefly making Katherine bite her lip. She wasn't used to having someone take care of her like this. Though she had Emma and Adam, Damien does things even without her consent and she felt weird about it.
"I can take care of my breakfast… you don't have to keep buying for me."
"Ms. Miller, didn't you just say that I should stay healthy because a lot of people depend on me? Then it's the same with you. I depend on you as my secretary, so I can't have you getting sick. If I don't take care of you, who will?" Damien tilted his head as if he was waiting for her to answer but Katherine only stared back at him. Unsure of how to answer his question.
"Unless… your boyfriend or husband would get mad?" he added.
Katherine was quick to deny by waving her hands in front of her. "No no no… I'm not married, nor do I have a boyfriend." Her brows scrunched a little at how fast she was to deny it. Why did she feel the need to do so?
A smile threatened to form on his face but he held it in and only answered, "Good," before he turned and went inside his office.
His answer confused Katherine. "Good? What's good?" She sat back on her seat and peeked inside the pastry bag. Her eyes sparkled upon seeing the different kinds of goodies inside and it smelled so good.
Damien just sat on his chair and saw the changes that Katherine had made on his calendar and a chuckle escaped from his throat. He had asked Natasha to cram his schedule that way to have more reason for Katherine to constantly be with him and so he can always have meals with her too. However, seeing how she managed to change the schedule because she was concerned about him, he was more than willing to follow the current one.
Lowering his gaze, he patted the sophisticated tie knot and he glanced at the woman outside through the glass who was happily eating the pastry. Damien was happy like a boy who received a star from his teacher.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
NixxxiE
NixxxiE
Starting today, I will be releasing chapters for FF on reset, that is 12mn or 00:00 GMT +8 until further notice. ♥
I am still currently writing for my 1st novel's ending hence only one chapter a day for Femme Fatale for the meantime but don't worry, later on, I will increase it to two chapters a day with a fixed schedule. Thank you!
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