C.E.O x C.E.O

Ch. 4 - Cupid Would've Been Proud

A week after that totally insignificant incident...

Katherine is sitting at her desk, looking through her emails in case the business they were supposed to be dealing with that night decides to contact them again. Considering their silence thus far, it doesn't seem like they were too happy with being stood up like that. Well, who wouldn't?

"Sir," She calls to James, who stands beside her desk, a phone pressed to his ear. "Hemlock has contacted again."

"Tell them my answer stays the same," James pulls the phone away from his ear momentarily to reply to Katherine, before bringing it right back and continuing his conversation with the other person on the line. "Sorry about that. As I was saying, I'd like to consult with the parties involved before making a decision. Would that be alright with you?"

Katherine stares at him for a moment before turning back to her computer and typing out the response to Hemlock. James is as he always is every morning - busy and stern. His tone of voice when speaking on the phone is soft and friendly yet his face says that the conversation is starting to get on his nerves.

He's recovered from that drunken night. She remembers seeing him not even fazed the next morning, completely sober and tidy, and straight to work. He doesn't remember anything either, only that he'd mistaken tequila with apple juice, and that's about it.

Though, Katherine would admit that sometimes when she stares at him for too long, she's reminded of what she saw that night. She can't believe this stoic man next to her also canoodled with his biggest enemy.

She's been thinking about it all week, although she knows she has other, better, more important things to think about, but what could James - or anyone, really - see in someone like Dmitri? It's the same question over and over. He's foul-mouthed and gruff, especially to James. Their status as enemies has always been very profound.

But then again, rumors do say that Dmitri's quite the guy in bed. And the man did bring James home in the end, with an uncanny concern on his face, and he'd even texted her the next day asking if he was okay. As if he actually cares. Katherine bets he's only concerned for his own reputation.

But if that wasn't the case... She glances back at her boss, whose expression remains the same, his phone slack in his hand now, the conversation gladly over. She thinks to herself, 'Him and Dmitri? An item?' She imagines him cozying up to Dmitri instead of yelling at him, their rivalry now a mere friendly competition than a heated feud, or something they made the public believe. She imagines them as friends or something more, anything but rivals.

She feels her face flush. Honestly, they'd be kind of cute together. And she'd hate to admit it, but James is in heavy need of someone else's shoulder to cry on besides her's. She doesn't mind, of course. She's glad her boss sees her as a friend than just a secretary, and she's glad they get to go on their friend dates on weekends. Nonetheless, James could use another in his life. A lover. Maybe he wouldn't be so stone-faced, so lonely.

Click! She sends the email, and realized she probably should've proofread it before sending it. Never matter, she cared little for the party she had sent the email to anyway. And so, she continues on checking the emails.

Then, her heart practically leaps. James notices her flinching. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing!" She quickly replies, recollecting her composure, and looking back at her work.

She's come across a particular email. An email from Reen Real Estate. She can't even see the name of the company the same way anymore!

The email is titled 'Invitation'. What could that possibly be about? Sucking it up, she opens the message.