As the wind ruffled through her ponytail, Katherine Cooper smiled at the warm feeling spreading throughout her body from the inside. She looked at her watch again. Seven Ten. Her careful planning had not gone to waste. She was almost at her destination. The latest time she could see herself arriving was at seven twenty five. She'd be thirty five minutes early! She just couldn't wait to see the look on the asshole's face when she... Kate had barely taken a step into the parking lot when she froze. That car... swallowing her dread, Katherine began to move forward to get a closer look. The black Alfa Romeo had its plate number GV1234A. Her heart sank to the deepest part of her stomach. It belonged to the asshole. She'd gawked at the expensive beautiful thing so many times that she'd memorized its plate number. The car had been parked military style, with its front facing the entrance. When her eyes sighted those familiar black leather shoes, her mouth went dry.There, seated atop the ho
Kate started to run in the silly hope that she could catch up with the car before it got to the parking lot. This…could…not…be…happening..! The distance between them grew even wider as the car zoomed even further and Katie increased her speed but pin-heeled stilettos weren't exactly designed for running, and she found her lips kissing the floor before she knew it. The contents of her bag scattered in different directions. The car was far out of her reach now. Tears stung her eyes again, and this time she let them flow as she gathered her things, fuming. A hot blonde guy in a tracksuit had not been very far away away when she had her great fall. He'd given her 'the eyebrow' when she'd hurried past him earlier on, but she was too distracted with getting to work to give him any face. It wasn't a surprise that he came to her aid. "That was some fall." He began. "Are you okay Miss? Here, let me help you with your-" "Go away!" Katherine yelled just as he reached out to pick up one of he
Katherine raised her hand to rub the sore part of her neck with a groan. Of recent days, her work load had nearly tripled. The situation was the same or even more strained with other employees so, who was she to complain? Apparently, Cole Corp was in 'perilous times' as the ceo had called their current situation in the long meeting they had three days ago. A new competitor that was more than capable of putting them out of business had surfaced into the market and they had to do all in their power to ensure that their ship stayed afloat and on top. She glanced at her wrist watch for a brief second. Seven twenty p.m. Ordinarily, this would've been twenty minutes past her closing time but she was among a good number of the 'loyal' employees who had volunteered to work a few extra hours free. Why? Well, since she'd just arrived, and not long ago she'd had her latecoming saga, along with the incident that transpired in the ceo's office, she wanted to be in their good records. But now, w
"Christ!" The exclamation involuntarily escaped her trembling lips as the car came even closer. The driver saw her just in time and applied the brakes. Still, the car was already too close. It wasn't slowing down fast enough. When the car was barely a few feet away from her, Katherine's nervous system finally came to life again and she moved a few steps backwards, giving enough room for the car to come to a halt. "How could you just jump in front of the road like that! What are you, crazy?!" She expected the driver to yell. "I'm sorry!" She said utterly flustered. "I'm so sorry!" Just then, Katherine looked up at the driver, and she froze. It was Nicholas Smith again. The asshole had the habit of showing up to tempt her with exactly what she needed at crucial times like this. Katherine would've ducked her head, but it was too late. He'd already seen her. Nicholas Smith raised his eyebrows, something akin to surprise registered all over his face. "Miss Cooper?" He seriously needed
His cell rang just as he turned the ignition in his car. Nicholas Smith picked up the line immediately. He didn't need a second glance at his screen to know who it was. "Well?" "She's on the move boss. Just got out of her house." He hung up immediately and sped down the street. He didn't need more information than that. He knew the routes Katherine usually took to work, knew exactly where she'd be at the moment. It didn't take very long, plus he was keeping an eye out for her.Soon, he spotted her slender figure moving down the sidewalk in the distance beyond. She was putting on a…yellow dress?! Nicholas Smith turned sharply away from the gaudy sight with a slight hiss. He slowed down to a halt at a corner of the road, and took in a deep breath to calm his nerves. "Nope." He mumbled. There was no way he was going to be able to sit in such a cramped space as a car with her while she was putting on such a bright color. Especially not yellow.Red, orange and yellow were the colors th
"Mr Smith?" She asked in utter amazement. ''How did you get my number?" "Wrong question." He said, and Katherine rolled her eyes. "And what exactly is the right question?" "I stopped by Mocha on my way back from work." He began, and Katherine remembered that he'd stayed later than everyone today too. He was still busy on his system when she'd left. She glanced at the clock on the wall opposite her. Nine o'clock. Could that have been around the time he'd just left Cole Corp? She wondered. "... And I was wondering if you could come over for a latte tonight? Maybe we could get down to business at the same time, discuss the lines of action we could take towards planning our policy, you know, compare Intel." Kate was silent. "You don't have to come if you're occupied, Miss Cooper. I'll be leaving soon anyways.'' His bland tone cut into her thoughts abruptly. "We could reschedule this for another day when you'd be-" "No." She cut in, surprising herself. "I'll be there in ten minutes
The time was well past her closing time, or any other time she would've stayed if she had the intention of staying any longer, but Kate was determined to wait as long as possible. Nick had refused to pick up any of her calls, he'd purposely avoided driving past their usual route that morning, and he'd taken extra pains to evade her despite the numerous times they would've bumped into each other during the day. Glancing at him past the cubicle wall, she could see him shutting down his system. Packing her things, Katherine stood up and made for his table just as he started for the elevator door, creating an inevitable collision of their paths. Nicholas Smith halted in his steps on reaching her, and Kate looked up to meet his stare, his eyes so impenetrable she wondered what thoughts lay hidden beneath those dark pools. "I'm not used to-" She was cut short as he made to walk right past her, but Katherine reached out and grabbed his arm, forcing him to a halt. "Nick." She called. Not t
Katherine pulled her hair back into a high ponytail that reached down just below the checkered patterns on her shoulders. She sighed. "So far, I got nothing." Twisting her head to the side, she turned to look at him. "I don't have anything either, to be honest, but for the meantime I was thinking maybe we could get together and go check out the layouts of our new competitors." "Competitors?" "Yes. The two competitors putting Cole Corp in a difficult situation right now are X Corp and Tee Corp. They are the latest multi billion dollar companies to come to the states. Just last month, they both established their branches in California." He elucidated. "Oh." Now she finally understood. "Sounds like a plan. At least, much better than nothing. Which one of them are we going to be checking out first?" Katherine asked. "I'm thinking…Tee Corp. It's a more tactical approach anyways." He said. An east wind blew past, and for the umpteenth time Kate was grateful that she'd brought her coa