Chapter 4 [Kathy]

The sexy stranger that I met in the bar last night was my boss. The longer that fact settled inside me, the more I wanted the ground to open up and just swallow me whole.

“Are you okay?” Caitlyn asked, eyeing me suspiciously. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

That was an understatement. If she only knew what was going on in my mind…

“I know we scared you with how difficult he is to please,” Jeff said, amused by my reaction. “But at least he’s not bad to look at.”

“Um… I, uh—” I stammered, feeling lost for words.

What were the odds of something like this even happening?I mentally kicked myself for having the worst luck possible. I could feel the blood draining from my face. I hid out of view behind one of the doors, hoping he wouldn’t see me as he walked in. The last thing I wanted right now was to have to speak to him. Not before I’d gotten my tumbling thoughts and emotions in check.

Jeff and Caitlyn chuckled at my theatrics. They must’ve thought I’d lost my mind.

“Hey,” Caitlyn came up behind me. “I feel bad now. Maybe we shouldn’t have told you all those things. He’s really not that bad. I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”

“No, it’s not that,” I said quickly. “I just think I should get to work instead of standing around.”

I began to plot all the possible ways I could get away with not having to face Dylan right now. He had stopped talking to Marsha and was not looking in my direction.

This was my chance. I took the moment to make a beeline for the office bathroom where I’d have a chance to clear my head. But just when I thought I’d dodged the bullet, I heard Marsha call out my name.

“Kathy, can you come here for a second?” she asked. “I want to introduce you to Dylan.”

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. My heart hammered in my chest, threatening to rip clean out of me.

“Sure thing,” I quickly opened the washroom door and plastered on a smile, even though I was freaking out on the inside, and slowly walked over to where the two of them were standing. My eyes were trained on the floor.

“Dylan, this is Kathy, our new hire,” Marsha said. “She started just today.”

I couldn’t avoid it any longer. I mustered up all the courage I could manage and finally looked up at him.

He smiled at me, seemingly unfazed. The corners of his eyes crinkled and he cut the most dashing figure I’d seen. Well, since last night, that is. Jeff was right about one thing—he wasn’t bad to look at. Not bad at all.

“It’s great to meet you, Kathy,” Dylan said in a strictly professional tone.

I had expected him to have a totally different reaction. Or at the very least, I expected to see some kind of recognition in those dreamy eyes. But there was none.

I nodded at him, tongue-tied. What was I even supposed to say?

Sorry, I snuck out of your place without saying anything. But I had a great time last night. Excited to work together, Boss!

He seemed to notice how my cheeks had turned bright red. Still, even then he was the picture of calm and collected.

“You seem nervous,” he remarked pointedly, meeting my gaze.

Instantly, flashbacks of him bending me over the windowsill in his penthouse flooded my mind. I blinked a few times, trying to snap myself out of the trance I was in.

“No,” I croaked. “It’s just that this is my first day.”

He nodded, his expression giving no indication of him having met me before. According to Dylan’s reaction, we were total strangers.

“Good luck. I have some important calls to take, so I’ll be in my office,” he said and then turned to his heel to leave, ending our conversation abruptly.

I was left staring at his retreating figure and wondered if he remembered me. Surely, it hadn’t been long enough for him to just forget someone he slept with the night before.

But with the way he was acting, I was left doubting my own memory about whether last night had happened at all.

∞∞∞

“Kathy!” an excited figure called out by name from afar, rushing over to me.

I had decided to use my lunch break to meet up with an old friend, Sarah, at a cafe close to my office. After what happened that morning, seeing a familiar face felt good. We hadn’t seen each other for many years but I recognized her straight away.

She came over and hugged me tightly.

“God, I missed you too much,” she said, taking her seat at the table. “I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“It’s been a minute,” I smiled. Her energy was infectious, and I instantly felt my mood lifting.

“You have no idea how excited I was when you told me you were moving to New York,” she gushed.

“Me too. I’m so glad you’re around,” I said sincerely. “This city can be a lonely place and I’m happy to have a friend here.”

“Uh, friend?” she shot me a look.

“Sorry,” I chuckled. “Best friend.”

“That’s more like it,” she grinned and then leaned over the table. “So, tell me everything. How’s the new job?”

I groaned loudly, burying my face between my hands. “Don’t even get me started.”

“Is it that bad?” Her tone was immediately clouded with concern.

“The company is great,” I said. “It’s just my luck that sucks.”

“Come on. I know you’re exaggerating. You’re working at one of the best companies in the city, in a role that people admire. How can you say that your luck is terrible?” she questioned, narrowing her eyes at me.

“Well, I met my boss today,” I said. “Turns out, it wasn’t the first time we’ve met each other.”

“Oh, did you two get a chance to meet before? At a work event or something?” she asked curiously.

“Not quite,” I gulped down the lump that formed in my throat just by thinking about what had happened this morning. But I had to get it off my chest. “I met a wonderful gentleman at the bar last night, and we really hit it off. One thing led to another, and we ended the night at his place.”

“And?” Sarah prodded.

I sighed heavily. I’d hoped she’d fill the rest of my story in by herself. “Well, I walk into work this morning, and guess who I see?”

Sarah’s eyes widened, the penny finally dropping. “You’re kidding!”

“I wish,” I replied flatly. “But no. I’m dead serious.”

Sarah burst into a fit of laughter. “Oh my gosh, Kathy. This is hilarious,” she said in between her laughs.

“I’m glad my situation amuses you,” I replied, “But I feel like I would rather burst into flames than have to face my boss after hooking up with him.”

“Hey, at least you know he likes you,” she teased.

“I don’t even know if he remembers me,” I groaned. “My manager introduced me to him, and he acted completely nonchalant while I was bumbling around like an idiot trying to form coherent sentences.”

“He was probably just being professional,” Sarah shrugged. “I’m sure in his mind he was thinking of how hot you looked between his sheets.”

“Stop it, Sarah,” my cheeks burned red.

“Fine,” Sarah laughed. “I won’t embarrass you anymore. But wow, that’s quite the story. Why do these crazy things always happen to you? It’s like your life is a movie.”

“I told you,” I stressed. “I have the worst luck.”

“And a hot boss,” she winked at me, causing the blush to return to my cheeks.

“I just hope this doesn’t affect my job,” I said earnestly. “I’ve worked really hard to get where I am, and I don’t want something like this to ruin everything for me.”

“It’s not like you knew he was your boss,” Sarah reassured. “The bigger challenge will be stopping yourself from jumping his bones again.”

“That was a one-night thing,” I replied quickly, barely believing my own words.

“Sure,” she replied coyly. “Whatever you say.”

“Sarah! I’m serious,” I groaned and then looked at my watch. “Let’s not waste the rest of my lunch break talking about this. I want to forget that it ever happened.”

∞∞∞

When I walked back into the office, I was immediately called into Marsha’s office.

A boulder sank in my stomach, twisting and churning the bundle of nerves that formed there. All the while I began thinking of every possible worst-case scenario. Had Dylan said something to her and now I was getting fired?

“Kathy!” She smiled at me as I walked into her office.

If Marsha was going to fire me, I’m sure she wouldn’t have greeted me so warmly.

“You wanted to see me?” I asked, taking a seat.

“Yes, I wanted to brief you on your first task,” she said.

And just like before, the whole drama with Dylan and me seemed to exist only in my head. I breathed a sigh of relief. At least I was not being fired on my first day.

“Of course,” I nodded eagerly. That was exactly what I needed to get my mind off Dylan.

“We have a new project coming up that’s going to need a lot of prep time. You can go over the brief, it has all the details. But you’ll be working with some big shots, so it’ll also be great exposure for you. Stuff like this is a great look for your resume,” she said, passing me a file.

“Okay,” I said, going over the project brief. “Got it.”

“This project is critical for our company. I know you don’t usually get such a high-profile project when you’re just starting out in a new role but as I mentioned to you earlier, this is a very demanding position,” she reiterated.

“Looking at the brief now, I can already see some similarities to the kind of work that I was doing for the other branch,” I remarked, flipping the pages.

“That’s why we decided to assign it to you,” she nodded. “Dylan has high hopes for you in this position. I’m sure you must have already heard that he can be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to work. But don’t let that scare you. He rewards potential when he sees it.”

I pursed my lips, my mind going back to what Caitlyn and Jeff had told me earlier. It wasn’t the time to get into criticisms of Dylan’s management style, so I kept that to myself.

“I’ll try my best not to disappoint,” I said with a wide smile.

Marsha seemed content with my response and clapped her hands together. “Great! That’s exactly what I want to hear.”

As I walked back to my desk with the project file in my hands, I thought it was strange that Dylan hadn’t said a word to me about anything after our initial encounter this morning. I chalked it up as a good thing. I needed to avoid contact with him for as long as I could, until things felt a little less awkward.

I opened my work computer and began typing away immediately. I had thought of how to approach the project already and had to immediately save notes. This new project had a lot that needed to be done, and I knew I’d be putting in long hours. But as I worked, I glanced over to where Dylan’s office was. His walls were made of tinted glass, and I could see a faint silhouette of him working away at his desk.

In the work setting, he was completely professional. It was a total shock to me considering how smooth he had been the night before. It was almost like he had two distinct personalities.

Chewing on my bottom lip, I decided that it was probably best to try to forget about what happened. It was one night, and we were both adults. Dwelling on how awkward it felt only served as a distraction and that wasn’t something I could afford right now.

From now on, I was going to pretend like that night never happened. Dylan was my boss, and we had a professional relationship. I intended to keep it that way. Once I made that decision, I buried myself in my work, going over document after document about the project I was assigned.

“You’re really going at it. The day’s over,” a voice pulled me back to reality. I glanced up to see a man whose face I didn’t recognize standing by my desk. “I’m Kevin, by the way. My office is on the other side of the lunchroom.”

I glanced at my watch and saw that he was right. I’d been so caught up in my work that I had completely lost track of time.

“I didn’t even notice,” I replied, smoothing out the sides of my blouse. “My name is Kathy.”

“Oh, I know who you are,” Kevin grinned at me. “The entire office has been buzzing with talks about you all day.”

“I wonder what they’re saying,” I tried to sound calm but inside I was worried if somehow, they were privy to the events of last night.

“Nothing bad, I assure you,” he replied. “You’ve kind of reached legend status already.”

That part surprised me, but I did not feel good about it.

“I don’t even know what I’ve done to deserve that,” I sighed, the exhaustion of the day finally catching up to me.

“Of course, you know,” Kevin cocked his eyebrow. “It takes real balls to fill a position like this, given the track record of how quickly people are replaced.”

“Everyone keeps telling me that,” I replied, finally closing the files in front of me. “But so far, everything’s been fine.”

“Good. It would be a shame to see you go the same way,” he said. “I, for one, would be very upset.”

Was he flirting with me?I brushed off his remarks and began to gather my things to leave.

“So, are you new to the city?” he asked. It seemed like he hadn’t had his fill of the conversation yet.

“I am. It’s definitely a new scene but I don’t mind the change,” I replied.

“I’m a New Yorker, born and raised,” he bragged. “Maybe I can show the ropes and help you settle in. In fact, we could go grab a coffee right now and I’ll give you a little tour of the places around here.”

I glanced down at my watch again trying to buy some time before I rejected him, without seeming too rude.

“That’s really nice of you,” I replied in a polite tone. “But honestly, I’m feeling a little tired. I should probably head home to rest now. I don’t want to wreck my already horrible sleep schedule.”

“Are you sure about that? It’ll just be a quick detour,” he insisted, refusing to let go of the idea.

“Maybe I’ll take you up on that offer another day,” I said, and began to walk away from my desk.

“Fine,” the disappointment in his tone was palpable. “But we must exchange our numbers. Trust me, New York is a big place, and you’ll need all the friends you can find.”

I couldn’t help but notice how arrogant he was in the way that he spoke. But I didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot with anyone on my first day, so I gave in.

“Sure,” I handed my phone over to him so he could add his contact.

“Great,” he grinned and typed out his phone number. “Don’t hesitate to give me a ring anytime you want.”

“I’ll see you later,” I took my phone from him and began to walk away. When I glanced down at my screen, I had to roll my eyes at the name he had chosen for his contact.

It saidNY God Kevinwith a wink face emoticon next to it.

At least I could say that my first day at work had been eventful.

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