Take a Chance on Me

-1-

 "Damn, I am so late today."

Lisa swore softly to herself, tapping her hand impatiently on the steering wheel of her Mansory Ferrari 812 GTS, waiting for the signal to go green. The quarterly management meeting was scheduled to start at ten in the morning and she was already forty five minutes late. Being Technology Chief of Kim Systems, she was scheduled to make a presentation in fifteen minutes and she needed to rush. This meeting was extremely important and though they might forgive her the late coming, she surely wouldn't be forgiven for missing her presentation slot.

"Oh God, what a mess," she said aloud.

She had returned to Seoul late last night after attending a successful business meeting in Vienna. The long hours she had put in the previous week, to ensure that the meeting was successful, had started taking their toll. She had woken up late, oversleeping, despite the shrill ring of her alarm. She had even skipped breakfast and driven as fast as she could in the chaotic, Monday morning, Seoul traffic. But despite her best efforts she hadn't yet made it to her office.

The signal turned green and Lisa pressed down on the accelerator, zipping as fast as she could till she finally entered the gates of the Kim Corporation and parked her car in the first available slot she found.

Lisa entered the lobby of her office building and rushed to catch the elevator just as the doors were about to close. She quickly pressed the button for the top executive floor and glanced at her face in the elevator's mirror. This one quick glance was enough to confirm that a trip to ladies room was a must. Her hair looked unkempt and was all over her face. Shoulder length and dark, she usually tied it into a top knot, while at work. But today being the scuttle that it was, she had barely had time to run a comb through it. She could not go in for a meeting looking like she did!

She exited the elevator in a half run and flashed her access card at the entrance door which swung open as she pushed. The board room was directly in front of her. She could see through its glass doors that the meeting was in full swing. She dashed down the left, towards the rest rooms, the sound of her heels muffled by the plush carpeted floor beneath her feet.

As Lisa rounded the corner, she walked straight into a human wall. The air escaped with a whoosh from her mouth and a second later she was falling backwards. Her eyes widened in panic knowing there was nothing she could do to stop her fall. But before she could hit the ground, strong hands reached forward and gripped her waist to steady her. She was now firmly held and realized that she was pressed against a very virile male body. She looked up to find herself drowning in eyes the color of molten honey and a face that could be on the cover of any glossy magazine. Her eyes widened in shock.

This guy was simply gorgeous.

He was fair with features so chiseled; it felt like they were carved out of rock. His dark hair was cropped and spiked as per the latest trend. On second thoughts, he must have been on the cover of a magazine, because she was certain that she had seen him before. Before she could consider that thought, his luscious lips were curving into a smile.

It was obvious that she was staring. Belatedly she realized his hands were still holding her and she was pushed up against his chest.

Suddenly she felt the strangest of sensations enveloping her body and mind. Every inch of her body that was in contact with his was growing warm. She shook herself out of this unknown reaction and stepped back from him.

"I am sorry," she told the stranger.

She gave a regretful smile and a slight shrug of her shoulders. "I am in a hurry and I just didn't see where I was going."

"No damage done," he replied, smiling back at her.

"Well, thanks for stopping my fall. I really need to rush now."

She gave him another smile and disappeared from his sight, as she turned the corner ahead of her.

--------------------

Kim Taehyung was zapped. He couldn't believe that his body had reacted so spontaneously to this unknown woman who had collided into him. She was about five-five, five-six max, with dark eyes, dark hair, and a creamy white complexion on a heart shaped face. She was definitely pretty, although not the type of woman he was normally attracted to. But, he thought with a wry smile, her body had curves at all the right places.

Who was she and more importantly what was she doing on the executive floor of his company? Perhaps she was one of the assistants of the managers now currently in the board room.

Well, there was no way he could know who she was! After all, he had just returned from London a month back, succumbing to pressure from his grandfather to take his place as the managing director of the Kim Corporation.

His grandfather Gong yoo had started this company from scratch forty years ago and had built it to be one of the most successful business empires in the world. They had a foothold in several businesses starting from real estate, to hotels, automobiles, telecom and media and also IT. They had a presence in several countries. He himself was heading the US and European offices until recently, operating primarily out of London and New York.

The ringing of his cell phone jolted him back to reality. After all, it was to answer this call that he had left the meeting! He checked the number on the screen and walked quickly towards his office which was in the left wing of the executive floor. The right wing being used by his grandfather. He shut his office door and stood facing his desk. He pushed the button on his cell to answer and said "Yes."

"Mr. Kim, I am calling from the investigative agency you..."

"Yes, I know. Do you have the information I asked for?" Taehyung said cutting off the guy.

"Yes sir, my agency has gathered preliminary information that a woman was involved in the last two failed contracts with ACC."

"Do you have a name?" Taehyung asked.

"We suspect a woman, Lalisa Manoban; she works as the Technology Chief in Sehgal Systems."

"What proof do you have that it was her?"

"We have photographs which show her dining, recently, with the owner of one of your competitor organizations, Fortuna International."

"That's not enough evidence to prove that it was this woman, Lalisa, who had passed on the necessary information," Taehyung said coldly.

"True. But since the first contract was won by Fortuna International, the suspicion does pile up. Also, a source from the other competitor, Eclipse Systems, has confirmed that there was a woman involved, from Kim Systems, who gave them the information regarding the price that you were offering. Since Miss Lalisa is the only woman with apparent access to such information in the office, we are presuming it's her."

The man paused to give Taehyung time to digest this latest news before continuing.

"Additionally, Miss Lalisa's personal account shows two payments of fifty lakhs, one before the first transaction failed and the second after the second transaction failed. We haven't yet been able to verify from which accounts the money was transferred."

Taehyung was silent. The woman was getting paid extremely well for passing on sensitive information. But that was natural, he thought, since the contracts were worth multimillions of dollars for the organization that won them.

He thought for a while. "What else do you know about this woman?"

"She has a degree in software engineering from a reputed institute in Seoul and has over the years studied and completed a part time course in Business Management while working with Kim Systems. She has grown very fast and very high in your organization. Being in the position she currently is in, gives her easy access to a lot of confidential information.

Furthermore, she is only 27 years old, and from her photographs, appears to be very good looking."

The man hesitated. "There is one more thing, sir, rumor has it, that Miss Lalisa is involved with a very senior member of your organization."