Witness

15. Kaiden

When a problem arises, the first thing I try to do is sleep it off. 

Other CEO's often try to deal with it head on, straight away, with balls too big for their own good. They fuck it up because they went in hot headed and heavy handed. 

My mother, however, taught me that patience is a virtue, and so if something goes on, there's always time to sleep it off first. 

Chelsea Jones is a problem. All I need is a solution that gets her onside. 

Maybe showing up unannounced at her office isn't my finest idea, but it's all I've got. 

The receptionist is nice enough. I flirt with her, write down her number, and promptly throw it away as I pass a bin on the way to the elevator. Chelsea works a few floors up in an office surrounded by her team. 

I pretend I belong as I walk towards that office, ignoring the curious glances thrown my way. Knock twice, readjust my suit, pull a hand through my hair. This feels like an awful idea. 

Chelsea is smiling when she opens the door. It quickly turns into a grimace, and then a panicked look around my shoulder. She takes a fistful of my (freshly pressed) shirt and pulls me into the small space. 

"What the fuck are you doing here?" 

"I-" 

"At my work, Kaiden?!" 

Has she ever said my name before? Probably. Still, it sounds odd coming out of her mouth. 

I roll back my shoulders and lean against the wall. 

"Well you blocked my number." Her eyes darken. I hold back a smirk. "It didn't leave me a lot of options."

"I blocked your number because you're a fucking lunatic," she hisses, before walking over to the blinds over her office window and pulling them shut. She makes sure to glance awkwardly out of them before doing so, just so my being here seems more suspicious. 

"Damien's the lunatic, princess." 

She turns and points a finger at me. 

"Do not call me that."

Pissing her off is so easy. 

"Why? You're his little princess, aren't you?" 

"I'm not his - anything!" 

She peeks out through the blinds. 

I can't help but roll my eyes. 

"Nobody cares that I'm here, but they're going to if you keep acting like I'm this huge secret." 

"You are a huge secret," she argues, speaking slowly like I'm dumb. 

It's not like I was left with much choice. After she blocked me last night, I knew I had to do some damage control. The last thing I want is for her to tell Damien that somebody is looking into him, and the sooner I can get the information I want out of her, the sooner this can be over. 

I want to be here just about as much as she wants me to be here. 

"Damien is going to kill the both of us," she continues. "You're a fucking idiot if you think that nobody cares that you're here." 

I open my mouth to ask her if she thinks we're in some sort of bad mafia movie, but she continues to have her meltdown and whisper-yell at me. 

"And to come to my place of work, too? Am I not allowed one place to myself? You guys need to take over my weekends and come to my house and my work?"