LOGINKISAREL.The meeting went on for another two hours, and somewhere in the middle of it, everyone seemed to have forgotten about me and the embarrassment from earlier.It became a little easier to breathe. Not fully, but enough to convince myself I could make it to the end of this without completely falling apart.I sat in my chair, typed my notes, kept my eyes on my screen, and told myself that the worst was over. That I had survived the file humiliation and hadn't broken down in front of twenty-seven people, and that counted for something. That Mr. Stark had made his point and moved on, and the rest of this meeting would pass without incident, and I would walk out of here with whatever was left of my dignity intact.I almost believed it. Until..."My schedule," Mr. Stark said, and even though he wasn't looking at me, I knew he was talking to me.His eyes were glued to his system as he browsed through a document with keen interest."George, take your team to the property tomorrow. Comp
KISAREL.I walked into that meeting room behind Mr. Stark and his senior staff and immediately understood why Carol had looked at me the way she did this morning.The room changed the moment he walked in.Nineteen senior staff and eight junior staff, all of them already seated, mid-conversation or mid-page or mid-breath, and every single one of them went still the moment Ocean Stark crossed that threshold. Conversations died, phones disappeared, everyone's backs straightened, and their eyes found the table in front of them or the wall ahead or anywhere that wasn't directly in his line of sight.Mr. Stark took his seat at the head of the table.He didn't open with pleasantries. He didn't do a welcome or an acknowledgment of who was in the room. He simply sat, looked at the table in front of him for one moment, and said, "Let's begin," and the meeting began, because that was apparently all it took when you were Ocean Stark.I stood beside him, with my laptop clutched to my chest, and lo
KISAREL.I checked the time for the two hundred and sixth time in one hour.I dragged the back of my hand across my temple and forehead, wiping off the sweat that kept returning no matter how many times I cleared it, and pushed my bangs out of my face in frustration, but they fell right back. They always did. Right now, I wanted to cut them off with the letter opener sitting on the edge of my desk.It was already eight minutes past nine, and thankfully, Mr. Stark hadn't arrived yet. He would have added to my anxiety if he were here.My desk looked like a small explosion had happened on top of it.My hands were shaking as I ticked the last item on the rough list I made of Mr. Stark's schedule for the next two weeks - appointments, meetings, etc.I updated it on my system and forwarded it to Zen's email for printing.I moved on to the next item on the list. I could multitask.I totally could.I picked up the office phone and began dialing the numbers he asked me to call one by one, and
KISAREL.It was looking like a fine Monday morning until I decided to make a detour to the fifth floor to drop off Kloe's novel. I had borrowed it over three weeks ago and hadn't opened a single page of it — the storms in my life had made sure of that — and I figured returning it was the least I could do before she started thinking I'd kept it on purpose.I stepped out of the elevator and was heading toward Kloe's desk when Carol's voice echoed across the floor, dishing out instructions that sounded like pre-formatted commands."We have a meeting with the boss at ten. Go over your monthly report," she was telling Janice without breaking stride. "Unless you want to lose your job."My heart skipped a beat.My feet slowed without my permission.The boss.Mr. Stark was back?Didn't he say the trip was for a week?I stood there for a second with Kloe's novel pressed against my chest and felt my mouth go completely dry."Carol?" I called when she was about to walk toward Mr. Jack's office.
OCEANS."The meeting is in thirty minutes, sir," Tim reminded me, and I immediately felt the need to replace him. Since on the flight, I'd found his voice rather too annoying, and now his very presence repulsed me."And the board...""Leave, Tim," I said, still looking at my phone and wondering if calling a third time would make me look desperate."Sir?" He asked."Get the fuck out, Tim!" I almost yelled at him.He didn't hesitate. He gathered his tabs and whatever the fuck he had brought into my suit and disappeared through the door in under five seconds.Good.I needed the silence more than I needed the thirty-minute warning.It was probably around 10PM back in New York. I didn't want to believe she was already asleep. And even though she was, two calls missed? That's unlike her... Unless.Fuck. No.I didn't even want to finish that thought.And, no. I didn't give a fuck if she was fucking her boyfriend right now. That was none of my business, and I had made peace with that fact app
KISAREL."I almost thought you were trying to wash your sins away," I teased the moment he stepped out of the bathroom."Jesus, babe." He stopped dead, genuinely startled, one hand going to the towel at his waist. "How long have you been here?""Long enough to almost doze off waiting for you," I replied, my heart already racing.He crossed to me immediately and kissed me, before pulling back and looking at me with that easy smile of his. "You could have joined me or something."He crossed to the vanity and reached for his brush, the surprise already settling into something more comfortable. More like himself."Yeah. But no, thanks," I replied.We were quiet for a while. I watched him apply his favorite night cologne, with my hands folded in my lap, and waited.He came and sat beside me, close enough that his warm arm grazed mine. "You're gradually beginning to become a disobedient girl, you know?""How?" I turned to look at him."Coming unannounced." He smiled, "Someone has forgotten
KISAREL."I can do this. I can beat the time."I was still chanting it under my breath when I slammed the taxi door and hurried toward Jace's entrance, which was optimistic considering it was already 9:38 and optimism was about all I had left at this point.I had made peace with missing the ten o'cl
KISAREL."Girl, you've been checking the time non-stop since we got here," Elgin said, setting his glass down. "You promised me the whole evening. The whole evening, Arel. Those were your exact words. I have witnesses.""You have no witnesses.""Grand-père heard you say it over the phone."I smiled
OCEANS.We waited for the door to be answered. It took a while, almost like Mr. Gerald was taking his time to decide whether to answer the door or not.The door pulled open a second before I lost my patience, and the man I'd see in the footage showed up looking a bit older. But he was dressed smart
OCEANS.She rounded the table slowly, and I caught her wrist when she reached me.I pushed my chair back from the desk, creating a narrow corridor of space between myself and the mahogany, and looked up at her."Sit."Her eyes dropped to my thigh and then came back up to my face with an expression







