Dangerous CEO; Falling for the Mafia Boss

Chapter 3: Breaking the Ice

I tried to avoid him as much as I could, but it was pretty near impossible. Beyond our jobs being so closely connected, he was pretty persistent with focusing on me.  I wasn't sure whether he was just keeping an eye on me for his sake or the company's, but either way he was really good at it. I know he put me in this job, but he had to know why I was fired to have known my previous experience. I didn't actually do what they said I did, but I didn't fight the accusations either.  Regardless, with how close he's kept me, I couldn't do anything even if I actually did want to. 

We were both sitting at a rectangular mahogany table. He placed it perpendicular to his desk at the farthest wall. With enough space provided to easily look at  paperwork and files on multiple divisions, but not enough space to be independent. It was a long table but not very wide.  My office was equipped with a high powered, high storage laptop and a computer both connected by an external system, so everything I did showed on both. I brought that laptop here to use while we assessed the effectiveness of some operational strategies. 

Our chairs were built for professional use and pretty damn comfortable. With cushioning so soft, I was tempted to pull my legs up on the chair in a more relaxing position. Sadly, I was wearing a skirt. Though as it started to hit around six o'clock in the evening, the temptation got stronger and a couple of times I tried to pull them up. Each time even if I barely moved, his eyes would shift from the paperwork sprawled across the table to me. With a stare so intense you'd think I was trying to jump out the window instead of just sit cross legged after more than 8 hours of working.  One time, I just shifted my foot slightly and immediately he shot me the look. 

I was kind of impressed. Maybe even impressed enough to see how far it goes, this ability of his.

We both had teas, he had some chocolates that he never offered to share, and the salt shaker was still on the table from lunch. All within reach. He may have caught me whenever I moved my legs, but what about my hands? He could be detecting the vibrations,  but my hands are already moving. So for all he knows, I could still just be working. Plus his eyes are pretty glued on that revenue sheet. 

Maybe a little salt, to fix that attitude. I'll get me a chocolate too.  Sweet, sweet chocolate.

I casually moved my hand on the shaker. Just resting it there. Park stayed completely focused on his work. Didn't look up at all. Even when I kept it there for more than a minute, while my other hand stayed playing with the space key and the A key. At an uneven enough pace to sound like I was diligently typing away. 

I picked up the shaker and tilted it, ready to shake just enough salt in the tea to put him in a little cardiac arrest. My hand moved bac-

"Salt my tea and you'll have to drink it." I dropped the salt shaker. Sort of tossing it across the room, from the shock of him catching me. He didn't even look up this time. How did he even know? I definitely wasn't in his peripheral vision. Sneaky cheap bastard. Well I can still try for one little pleasure...

My hand slipped over to the chocolate. I couldn't even grab the piece before he spoke again.

"Don't touch." Caught me again, but seriously he should be sharing. I stopped pretending to type and placed my arms across each other. Trying not to make it too obvious I was scowling in his direction, but still completely scowling in his direction, I squinted my eyes just right.

The words came out before I could hold them back or go back to real working.

"Why not?" He looked up at me then. Same face as before. My breath caught in my throat. I cursed myself again as his eyes trapped my own. I swear his eyebrow was slightly tilted up, but that could be just the angle he was looking at me from.  I barely heard his response.

"One's poisoned." 

"What?" 

He spoke louder now, "One. Is. Poisoned." A small laugh escaped me. Our eyes stayed locked. Park did not return the humor. We were silent for a while. Finally I spoke up again.

"Why would you eat it then?" He pushed away from the table, leaning back on his chair. Arms now crossed too. Still we looked at each other as a wolf and prey. I thought he was going to leave and ignore me, but he didn't. No worse, he answered. 

"It's a running joke between me an old friend. Everyday, I go to his chocolate store to buy chocolates, and every day he poisons one, hoping I'll drop dead." If we weren't still having our little staring contest, I would have blinked. A part of me stung. Not the light type of sting either. More like being hit by a ray sting. For some reason, I believed him, but every part of me wish I didn't. 

I questioned, worried, "How is that a joke?" He leaned back in, whole body tilted in my direction. Our irises mere centimeters from each other. I could feel his breath. I could see every word as it moved on his lips.

"Unbeknownst to him, I'm immune." 

He finally smiled. Biting his lip. It looked a lot nicer than I expected. Quick as I could I turned away. My cheeks felt too warm. Once again, I spoke out of place. 

"That's not nice." He huffed.

"Neither am I."

In this case, I disagree.