C.E.O x C.E.O

Ch. 12 - Hot Tea

Katherine heard it. She heard everything.

She froze in place, in the middle of reaching for the door handle, when she heard a yelp. It sounded like James. The only time he ever makes that noise is when he's startled by a cockroach and he has to get Katherine to get rid of it. She figured this was one of those cases.

But then the noise was followed by a low, raspy, familiar voice, telling James to keep quiet or someone may hear them. The shivers down Katherine's spine started there.

She stood there and heard everything. James' repressed moans and his vulgar words. Dmitri's dirty taunting and his occasional slapping. The desk's wooden creaking and the files of paperwork flipping. She didn't need to see what was happening to know what actually was happening.

She bit her lip. So it was an affair after all. That night wasn't a mere drunken incident after all. She didn't have to play cupid after all, not when they were already so far ahead.

But wow, her heartbeats are skipping. The boss and his arch rival are actually in love? And fucking in broad daylight? How long have they been together? Will they ever tell her themselves? How far are they going to take it? Are they going to elope someday? Will they be happy?What will happen to the companies? Are they even going to work? What the hell do they see in each other? Just what the hell is going on?

Katherine had lost track of time, of how long she stood there. She only realized it was for a while when James opened the door. Her head was spiraling, and seeing James with Dmitri beside him made it spiral even further. But she tried to keep her cool and go on with her day, vigorously trying to hide the tension in her face.

She's now sorting out the complete paperwork file into the shelf in James' office, whilst James is on a business call by his desk. She glares at him. He's changed into a black suit from the blue one he wore this morning. Why did he change it? She imagined it was, well, you know... though he told her it's merely a change of mood.

It makes her wonder what other secrets he's hiding from her. She knows he doesn't have to tell her everything. The man can have his own privacy. Still, they trust each other. And James have always let her know about things of this caliber of secrecy, secrets the press cannot know.

Is this secret really that deep?

When she thinks about it; Yes, it definitely is. And if James doesn't trust her enough to tell her, then that's okay. She can understand that much.

Still, she hopes this doesn't end in tragedy, especially when Tamara recently proposed that someone is out to get James. If word of this affair were to come out, then all of them are done for.

The hairs at the back of her neck stand at the thought of it. Even so, she opted to look on the bright side.

At least James won't be so lonely anymore.

× × × × ×

The bell hanging by the door rings when Katherine enters the café. This is the one Tamara had asked her to meet up with her at, right? There's only one café across the street.

She scans the café. It's relatively empty. Must be a slow day. What else was there to expect on a Monday noon? So it didn't take long for her to spot Tamara in her secretary uniform - a brown blazer paired with a matching brown skirt that would've been a little too short in Artino Holdings standards, and she's wearing... sunglasses indoors. Though, Katherine chose not to question it. Because she looks good.

Tamara turns her head towards her and she immediately lights up in her seat. She grabs the cup she had on the table and hurries over to Katherine, her heels tapping loudly in the empty café as she does so.