Bab 20: A Tasty Scent

That same night in the CEO's office

Damien was busy going over the papers on his desk. Feeling his tensed muscles from all the sitting, he rubbed his nape and glanced at the clock. It was already ten in the evening and he hasn't had dinner yet.

He turned off his computer as he stood up and then started unbuttoning his shirt until every single button was undone. When he reached the other end of his spacious office, he pressed a button on the wall and a panel slid to the side revealing an entryway. He took off his shirt as he entered the secret passage. Damien was now topless when he arrived in his living room.

The area that he just entered was actually where he lived within the main office building. It was a huge two-floor space that had a bedroom, a living room, kitchen, and dining. For the years that he had stayed in that place, he hadn't invited anyone in except for Markus but for rare occasions only. It was more like a bachelor's pad than a house as he meant to live on it alone without having guests over.

Patting his sculpted abdomen, he headed towards his full-sized kitchen and started whipping up a quick meal. After fifteen minutes, he started eating his homemade beef ramen, slurping the noodles and biting into the beef that he personally marinated beforehand.

Damien was used to living by himself since his father died many years ago while his mother had left them when he was eight. He wanted to continue being independent and did not want to be part of their family business so even though he had relatives, he did not ask for help from them and built his own empire since he turned twenty-two years old.

He dated a lot back then and was known to be constantly seen with different women to social events until a few years back. Though he still occasionally goes out on dates, he never saw them twice and it had been a while since he had been with someone. But this did not bother him as he had been long used to being by himself.

Suddenly remembering someone, Damien took out his phone and opened his gallery. Accessing a folder that only had one image on it, he tapped his screen and the picture maximized. He wondered what she was doing right now and thought that since it was late, she must already be sleeping. "I hope you ate your fill tonight, Kitten."

Damien suddenly had the urge to call Katherine so he scrolled through his contacts and his thumb hovered over her name. However, he stopped himself. 'What am I even going to say? She doesn't even remember me.'

Thinking that he shouldn't disturb her at that hour, he closed his phone and washed the dishes. He comforted himself knowing that he was going to see her again tomorrow anyway so he just needed to be patient.

Meanwhile, at the storage room two floors down from where Damien was preparing to sleep, Katherine had just finished her nighttime skin care routine and was about to sleep as well. She laid down on the thin blanket and pulled another one over her. The floor was definitely hard and uncomfortable to sleep in but she just had to suck it up as she was left with no other choice.

"Two more weeks until your first pay and you will definitely be sleeping on a better bed," she comforted herself and plastered a smile on her face as she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Her day was extremely long for a first day – she had to learn a lot from Natasha who was being unnecessarily bitchy and difficult. Katherine did not know the reason behind Natasha's resignation but with the way that the latter was treating her, she figured it must have something to do with their boss.

To make matters worse, Katherine was practically homeless with sore feet and painful blisters. Despite the situation that she was in, Katherine fell asleep almost instantly because of exhaustion.

…

Katherine's phone was buzzing loudly next to her head. She had set an alarm very early in the morning so that she can have enough time to sneak around the office and "prepare for work".

She was now thankful that Andrea had toured and showed her around thoroughly the other day so she knew where to go. There was an employee's lounge where she could take a shower and change. It was a good thing that she was used to moving quickly that she was in and out of the shower in just ten minutes. She got dressed and the only regret she had was that she did not have an iron that's why her clothes were a bit wrinkled and her hair was damp because there was no hair dryer.

Left with no choice, Katherine collected her things and went up to the top floor where she stowed her duffel bag in a corner before she went to the snack station to eat her breakfast. Though there was still an hour before work started, she decided to head back up to her desk so that she could start with her work after she had gotten one piece of toasted bread. She usually skipped breakfast so she could only eat that much.

Just as she arrived at her desk, the huge door of the CEO's office opened and out came Damien Park looking spruce and stylish in his black suit. It was still pretty early and he did not have any meetings that morning so he was laid back with no tie and his first button open. As soon as he got out, he immediately bumped into Katherine who was looking quite the opposite of him.

With both of his hands in his pockets, Damien tilted his head as he gazed at the woman a few feet away who was staring back at him with eyes wide open, a toast in her mouth, damp uncombed hair and wrinkly blouse. Though he had wanted to see her again that morning, he didn't expect it to be so soon.

Katherine had no idea what to say or do at that moment. She was absolutely dumbfounded seeing her boss at that hour and at her state. She looked like a mess and she was completely unsure of what to do. Why is he here this early? Was she caught? Did her boss find out about her sleeping in the storage room? 'Am I going to get fired?'

Ignoring her appearance, Damien glanced at the time in his Patek Philippe before he asked, "What time did you arrive? You're here early."

Katherine who was on the verge of peeing her pants because of the shock she received that morning tried to swallow her fears.

Taking the toast out of her mouth, she bowed slightly, "Good morning, President Park."

A strained smile formed on her face as she lied, "I had some things to finish that's why I came early."

'Lie,' he said in his thoughts when he noticed her expression. However, he did not call her out. "Mhmm…" Walking forward until he was in front of her, Damien raised his hand and using the back of his fingers, he gently brushed off the crumbs on the sides of her mouth. "Why are you eating only a toast for breakfast?"

Katherine was feeling all sorts of hot and cold all over her body; the mixture of guilt and nervousness making her all giddy that her heart was beating loudly. Damien's sudden affection made her stare directly in his eyes — it was a bizarre feeling but a comfortable one at that.

Inhaling his scent, she thought that it was quite tasty. How weird was it that she thought of his fragrance as something delicious? She was normally very sensitive to perfumes but Damien's was quite pleasant for her.

Realizing that her boss had just asked her a question, she stammered, "Umm… I… I just grabbed what I could find in the station."

Damien lowered his hand and Katherine strangely missed the warmth right away.

He turned around to retrieve something from inside his office and when he came back, he had a hair dryer in hand. "Here, dry your hair thoroughly or you'll get sick. I'll wait for you in the lobby."

Flashing his charming smile, Damien headed towards his private elevator and disappeared, leaving Katherine confused and hiccuping due to stress.

She placed her hand on her chest and felt her heart beat erratically. "I thought I was going to die."

Snapping out of her daze, she quickly went to the restroom and dried her hair.

…

When she arrived at the lobby, she found Damien leaning on his car with his hands in his pockets. Why was he casually waiting there for her like that?

Katherine became nervous as she scanned the area to check if there were gossip mongers and luckily there weren't a lot of people yet since it was still too early. She held her bag tightly and when she was near, Damien opened the passenger door for her. "Get in," he said.

She plastered a smile on her face as she could not complain. To survive, she decided to follow her boss's wishes to avoid getting into trouble. 'He seemed nice. He won't hurt me, right?'

As they rode the car, Katherine couldn't help but ask, "Do we have a meeting this morning? I didn't see it in the calendar."

"No."

She turned to him with a confused look, "Then where are we going?"

The car stopped at a red light and at the same time, Damien gave her a friendly smile. "Breakfast and shopping," he answered with a wink.

His response made Katherine even more perplexed. Why does it seem like her job was only to play around with her boss? Was she seriously getting paid that much just to do these things?