The Billionaire's Assistant

Chapter 85

Kat stood in the wings of the auditorium stage the next day, head pounding and her midsection aching. She'd been unable to stomach the thought of any food since she'd woken up that morning, and the typical delectable smell of Benoit's eggs earlier that day had made her want to gag.

Jove, characteristically calm despite the prominent task in front of him, hadn't seemed to notice, rehearsing his speech for her, taking her on a morning swim, then eating breakfast while urging her to have some despite the fact she claimed she'd already eaten.

The speech, especially coming from Jove's mouth, was a masterpiece, and as he read it, Kat could hardly believe that she'd written it amidst all their distractions.

"It's really good," she'd told him with a smile she hoped wasn't wavering. "Really good."

"What," asked Jove playfully, looking up. "You want a raise?"

Kat had smiled while wanting to cry and instead threw herself into his arms, feeling suddenly as if she weren't whole unless his body was encircled around hers.

She watched him anxiously now, feeling sick all over and on the verge of collapsing. He was as confident as ever, as commanding as ever, and the crowd was eating from his hand, engaged and engrossed and all too eager to laugh at the moments she'd planned to be funny. She checked the phone she'd been sure to charge the night before, waiting for either a texted update or the silence that meant all would proceed as planned.

It was 2:22, and Kat felt as if time were slipping by both too quickly and too slowly, wanting to prolong the moments before the incident yet simultaneously craving to be in the time and space after it occurred, to no longer have that built anticipation clutching at her throat.

She took an intentional deep breath in and out, then another. She could barely hear Jove's words anymore, they sounded like a buzzing drone to her, and she shook her head, wanting badly to rid it of both her thrumming headache and the thoughts that wouldn't stop recurring. She forced herself to focus, squinting in the face of the hot, bright spotlights pointed towards the stage.

"It's not about any one individual," Jove was saying, beginning the speech's last paragraph she'd tweaked so much she knew it like the back of her hand.

"It's about Tillibenton as a collective. It's about what we can do for the collective, how we can be empowered to make choices that benefit each and every person sitting in this room."

Kat nodded absentmindedly as if she were one of the company's major stakeholders.

"That's why collaboration is the key," Jove was continuing. "It's the most important lesson I've learned in my life so far, and I'm here to tell you all that it is a cornerstone, if not the foundation, of long term, sustainable profit. We have to think outside the box, outside of ourselves, to continue our patterns of growth in this rapidly changing marketplace with a rapidly changing consumer base. If we want to see growth, we have to be the catalysts."

A rousing cheer went up, and Kat swallowed, her mouth feeling impossibly dry. He was nearing the end now, reaching the crux of his speech, and just a few moments later they'd be walking out together.

"So, I stand here before you today," Jove finished. "Not as the CEO of a company you've invested in, but as a partner. As an asset. We at Tillibenton want to work with you, to work with your ideas and your business interests in order to make Tillibenton industries the premier global powerhouse of the pharmaceutical field. We are standing at the precipice of innovation, balanced upon the pinnacle of greatness. Your presence here today, your involvement here today, is as historic as it is monumental. With my leadership, the board's guidance, and your support, Tillibenton industries will change the world. Thank you."

The room burst into uproarious applause as Jove turned and walked towards her, and then everything began to happen in flashes, short bursts that Kat would later be unable to recall no matter how hard she tried.

Jove was walking towards her on the stage, then suddenly they were exiting the double doors together. She heard the next speaker's voice droning over the microphone, but she hadn't seen the person walk to the stage, hadn't, or wasn't able to remember.

She pressed closer to Jove as they stepped into the hallway, the two suited men in identical black sunglasses following closely behind. She had a fleeting thought that security may get in her way, may pull Jove's backwards before she was able to seemingly risk her life for his. She wished so desperately that she could've informed Andy of the lack of necessity for this plan, told her that Jove already trusted her, likely with his life at this point. Kat certainly trusted him with hers.

Her head swiveled as she scanned for Conner, realizing with horror that he must be running late. Her heart clenched. What if he had been caught coming into or exiting the stairwell? What if something had gone wrong with the door, maybe a guard had noticed it ajar. Kat reached for Jove's hand, gripping it tightly.

"Wait," she said urgently. "Wait. There's something in my shoe."

Jove fixed her with a strange look then laughed as Kat leaned on him and removed the flat, shaking it aggressively as if trying to rid the toe of a small, irritating rock. She looked about desperately as she did so, praying to see the top of Conner's curl adorned head above the rest of the crowd. She saw nothing, and Jove was now looking down at her expectantly.

"You ok?" he asked, and she nodded quickly.

"It's just weird," she replied. "There's something in my shoe."

"Ok?" Jove said a bit incredulously, confused but still smiling at her. "Lemme see, I'll get it."

She handed him the shoe, stalling for as much time as she could, and he inspected it, shook it, then handed it back to her.

"I don't see anything," he reported. "Try now."

Kat slipped the shoe back on then feigned discomfort.

"I don't know," she said, hobbling away from him on one foot away from him over to the wall and reaching out to lean on it. "It's so weird, I don't-"

An explosion rocked the building, the loud bursting of sound exploding from above then and leaving a high pitched whine in her ears. The hallway was immediately, chaos, pandemonium, with screaming and shouting people running in every direction, the fire alarm blaring incessantly over the fray.

Kat, just a few steps away from Jove, found herself being swept by the crowd further and further from him, the men behind him grabbing his arms as if cuffing him and pulling him back towards the auditorium doors as people pushed past them.

"Kat," she heard him cry, and he was gone as quickly as the tumult had started.