CEO FROM HELL

CHAPTER 4

A groggy groan rumbled through her throat as she shifted on her other side, her hand ferreting around in desperate search for a warm blanket that she failed to find. Her usually cozy bed also felt different, hard. The billowy pillow was also replaced by something soft and furry that kept tickling her nose. Catherine rolled on her back, trying to make herself more comfortable, but ended up in even more uncomfortable position. With an unsatisfied moan she peeled her heavy eyelids open. God, she was tired.

Sunrays were fighting their way through the pale grey draperies into the room. Beams of light were uninvited and very much unwelcomed, signaling the arrival of morning.

'Morning! What time is it!?'

With novice-like grace she jolted up, nearly tripping over the fury carpet she had passed out on few hours ago when she returned from the nightshift. Her eyes frantically searched for the digital clock nestled on her nightstand. It glowed green with the numbers '08:31' displayed.

"Bollocks!" Catherine shouted, probably loud enough to wake up her neighbors since the walls were near paper-thin.

Of all days to be late, it just had to happen now.

There was no time for shower or breakfast. She didn't even have time to glance in the mirror before leaving. Otherwise she wouldn't have left with her waitress uniform still on, including the black apron. All she managed to do was to grab her leather jacket and pull on her shoes on the way out from her apartment.

Catherine bolted down the stairs and into the streets like an Olympic champion at the start gun. The slapping noise of her sneakers resonated around the vandalised walls of the housing estate with a clanging echo. She quickened her pace to an all out sprint, taking sharp turns left and right until she finally halted when she reached the bus stop.

It was unusually empty. Dreadful feeling came over her. Checking the time she cursed loudly. She was five minutes late for a bus.

"I swear! What else could possibly go wrong!'

She took a moment to regather herself. All her thoughts were abandoned as she once again begun to run. She was nimble and knew the city better than anyone. Maybe, just maybe she stood a chance of making in time. A fervent desire to live was enough to get her leaden feet moving again.

Catherine scampered down the main street, shoving people out of her way as she went. For a second she was running so fast that she thought that a lightening bolt hit her and now she was the Flash.

Yeah, right. Maybe a snail version of him.

Thanks to a miracle she arrived three minutes and twenty four seconds before nine. Gasping and panting for air she dragged her feet up the last steps that leaded to large glass door of a fifty floor building. Her head was spinning and she felt very dizzy. There was this numb feeling in her legs which never lead to anything good. It felt like walking through a mist, everything went by her in a blur of colors.

Somehow she managed to get to the reception desk where a very bored lady sat. It was beyond her to notice anything else besides woman's brunette hair and blue eyes that were now fixed on her. "How can I help you?" The receptionist asked, sounding concerned.

Catherine couldn't make out the question or what was about to follow. At that moment she knew that she was clocking out. Her sight was clouded by black dots that hungrily devoured her field of vision. Then everything went black.

~~.~~

Her eyes flickered open to a brightly lit room as something jarred her up from her unconscious state. From the carousel of random ideas that ran through her head came an order - a subtle awareness of who she was under the flow of thoughts with their loose connections to her surroundings. After a few moments she began to analyze the environment.

First thing she noticed was a man standing behind his desk, his back turned to her. He stood facing the floor to ceiling windows, gazing out at the cloudy, stormy skies, a glass of something clearly liquor in his hand. He wore a business suit, one that was as clean and fit as the highest of class businessmen in the world. Everything about him screamed that he was refined, beyond all measure, that he was immensely powerful.

Even though her foggy mind she could make out who the man was.

"I see you're awake, Miss Cavenon." Layton remarked coldly as he raised the glass to his lips.

Catherine frowned, slowly sitting up in the couch she was laying on. "How very observant of you..." She grumbled, glaring daggers at the arrogant businessman as he turned around to face her. Taking in his angular features and keen eyes that shined with unspoken challenge, she once again came to understand that he was undeniably handsome to the point where it almost seemed inhuman, even one glance at him could make the most modest of girls throw themselves at him. He would be the man any male wanted to become and any girl dreamed to marry. That much she had to admit. But what got her attention more than his looks were the unnerving feeling of danger that made her stomach turn in knots.

"I asked you here for a reason." He said, brushing off her insult. He motioned towards the chair across from him, "Sit." He ordered. His tone showed he would brook no argument, that to defy him now would be punishable, and that there was very little outside authority could do to aid her should she choose to defy him.

"And what would that reason be?" Catherine asked, refusing to move from the couch. Maybe it was foolish to disobey. In fact it could end with her head being served on silver tray. But as witless as it was, there was still some fight left in her. Him commanding her around felt like someone pawing the delicate strings of her nerves and ever so lightly touching the switch that was better be left alone.

"I want to hire you." He turns to her, his expression that of a businessman, bored to tears of a dull applicant, his features shifting rapidly back to the human form she had first witnessed, power, wealth, and monetary prowess screaming from his every pore.

"Wait..What?" Catherine blinked, sure that she heard him wrong. "Is this some kind of prank?" She asked stupidly.

"Does it look like i'm joking, Miss Cavenon?" He asked her coldly.

"I guess not. People like you don't have a sense of humor." She retorted. "But if I remember correctly I didn't apply for a job. Why the hell would you want to hire me!?"

"I found your attitude amusing." He remarked almost casually.

"So you want to hire me because you want me to entertain you?" Her mind was failing to process where this conversation was going.

"I don't have the time to be entertained by you. Momentary amusement perhaps, which, you should have been able to do based on how you act. But I won't be playing cat and mouse with you." Layton's demeanor shifted slightly, he was less serious, less harsh now, but still just as tempered. "You'll work for me because you have the right qualities for this job."

"Wait! I never said I'll agree to work for you!" Catherine interrupted him, standing up from the couch.

'There was no way i'll would work for this egoistic douchebag! He must be sick with his head to even consider this deal!'

"I'll be going now, Mr. Grim." She said, turning on her heel to leave only to be stopped by his thunderous voice.

"You have not been dismissed yet."

Catherine turned around to give him a piece of mind only to freeze on the spot when he approached her slowly, like a shark might approach its prey.

She found herself backing away until her back came in contact with a wall. Even then he didn't stop, closing the distance between them until he was standing directly in front of her. His palms slammed against the wall beside her head, his arms locked into place. He had successfully trapped her, preventing her from leaving.

They were inches apart, staring into each other's eyes. Catherine felt her heartbeat speeding up as she stared up at him, having no other choice.

"You'll work for me, otherwise I'll send you to jail for larceny. It's your choice. Take my offer or...don't..."

She felt her breath hitch. "You don't play fair..."

"I never do." He smirked haughty. "Welcome to your new workplace, Spitfire."