2: The Woman in Red

"Hey! Miss! Calm down. It's just me." I suddenly heard a deep voice say, stopping me from screaming and thrashing around. I slowly opened my eyes and was in total shock to see a handsome face in front of me. His features are very defined like they were sculpted by one of the most talented sculptors in the world. His eyes were slender but very expressive, I could see the genuine worry in his eyes as he looks down on me. His nose is pointed with just the right height to them. And finally, his lips! Oh, his lips! They look thin, delicate, and soft with a slight pinkish tinge in them.

"Are you okay?" I was snapped out of my daydream and realized how close my new boss and I were. I scooted away from him a bit as I tried to get back to my feet, trying not to embarrass myself even more. A hand then, extended in front of me, I looked up at him and he just smiled at me urging me to take his hand. Although a bit reluctant, I took his hand and he immediately pulled me back to my feet.

"Thank you, Sir." I managed to say as I tried fixing myself and gathering my things that are now littered on the floor.

"No problem. We should head down. It's already so late." he replied to me while grabbing his things then went straight to the elevators as I quietly followed him.

The elevator ride was a bit suffocating, to be honest. I didn't know to act around our new boss and I guess he felt the same way because we both remained silent for the whole ride down. The elevator door opened as we reach the ground level and I went out while Mr. Mitchel stayed, I guess he was heading for the basement parking.

"Thank you again, Sir. Good night." I said to him and he gave me a slight nod and smiled as the elevator doors began closing.

"Cath. I didn't know you were still up there." Luigi, one of the guards, said as I exited the building. I just brushed off what he said and went straight out through the main door.

I hailed a taxi right outside the building and was lucky enough to get one right away. It was only a  fifteen-minute ride to my apartment and as soon as I set foot inside, tiredness and fatigue washed over me immediately. I took a quick shower, put on my PJs, and finally flopped down on my bed cuddled my blanket as I slowly drifted off to sleep.

I woke up with the sun piercing through the curtains of my bedroom, temporarily blinding my eyes in the process. I slowly got up and rummaged around my bed for my phone. I finally found it under my pillow, so I checked the time immediately. My eyes widened in disbelief as soon as the time displayed on my screen, it was already thirty minutes past seven.

I went straight to the bathroom and took the fastest shower I ever had. Got into the first clothes I laid my hands on and started fixing myself the best I could. I grabbed my phone again and booked a taxi. I made sure that I have all the documents I need to finish up my work and headed out of my apartment. It's a good thing that the taxi was already there when I got out of the building.

I'm so going to be late. I don't even know what time I ended up sleeping this morning. I have to tell Andrea that I'm running late and maybe ask her to buy me breakfast. I opened my bag and rummaged for my phone, but it wasn't there. Maybe it's buried under all the things that I shoved in it. I'll just look for it when I get to work, I guess no breakfast for me. 

"Thank you!" I said to the driver and started sprinting to the elevators.

"You look like a mess." Andrea greeted me as soon as I got into the office.

"Trying a new approach to seducing Sir Mitchel?" Bell asked as she was walking past us to her cubicle. Andrea made a couple of threatening gestures behind her back before pulling me to the comfort room.

"I overslept!" I said to her shyly as she was trying to fix my hair while I did my best to do a decent job on my make-up.

"What time exactly did you go home last night?" She asked me, finally getting the last knot out of my hair.

"I finished around midnight. I had a run-in with Sir Mitchel last night as I was heading out." I said to her as I finished putting on my lip gloss.

Her eyes grew wider with malice and I could tell what exactly is going on inside her head. 

"Before you say anything else, nothing like whatever you're thinking happened. Do you really think that I'd go for my boss?" I asked her.

"What? Look. We both know that those rumors are not true. All I'm saying is, Sir Harley is worlds away different from Sir Mitchel. That old pervert couldn't even be compared to Sir Mitchel's toenail. And besides, it's been a while since you dated someone or even liked someone, Cath. Honestly, you and Sir Mitchel look good together." She said to me, making finishing touches on my hair and giving me a wide smile.

I just rolled my eyes at her and took my bag and went out of the restroom followed by my best friend. She gave a tap on my bum before rushing off to her workspace as I headed to mine. 

It was almost lunch and I finally finished verifying all the work I was supposed to overlook. I tidied everything up and placed them in folders accordingly, before heading to Mr. Mitchel's office.

"Can I help you, Miss?" asked Sir Mitchel's secretary.

"Hi. I'm Cath. I need to show these templates to Sir Mitchel. Is he in the office?" I asked her and she just smiled at me.

"Hi, Cath. I'm Kyla. Yes, Sir Mitchel is inside, I'll just check if he's busy right now." She said and pressed her intercom.

"Sir Mitchel? Miss Cath is here. She said she needed to show you some templates." She said and we both waited for Sir Mitchel to respond. And after a few seconds, he did.

"Sure, let her in." We both heard him say.

"You heard the boss." Kyla said to me with a bright smile.

I took a deep breath before knocking on the glass door waiting for any sign of recognition from the man inside.

"Come in." I heard a deep raspy voice say from inside the office and so I did.

"Good morning, Sir. Here are the templates of our new comic book series, for your approval." I said to him while handing the folders. He looked up at me with a serious look on his face making me a bit conscious of how I looked. 

"Is anything wrong sir?" I asked a bit awkwardly but he just shook his head and proceed on skimming through the templates that I gave him.

"No, nothing's wrong. Anyway, when do you need the approval for this?" he asked focusing his attention back on what he was doing after placing the folders I gave him on the side of his table.

"I need to review everything thoroughly just to make sure that everything is done properly and up to standard." He said that took me by surprise.

"Preferably, before Monday, Sir. Our target is to get the final templates to production by Monday so we can start the distribution by the following week." I answered him and he just nodded at me, he looked back at me and was about to open his mouth to say something when the door to his office suddenly opened. Both of our attention was focused on the door, waiting for whoever opened it.

"Gav. Why aren't you answering my calls? Come on, I'm hungry. Let's have lunch to..." said a beautiful woman in a red dress as she entered the office. She stopped in the middle of her sentence as she saw me.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know you have company." she said with a beautiful smile on her face.

"No. It's okay ma'am. I was just about to head out myself." I said to her, returning her smile before turning back to Mr. Mitchel.

"Just call me if you have any questions regarding the templates, Sir. I'll be waiting for your approval on this. Thank you. I'll leave you two alone then." I said.

"Sure thing Cath. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. You can have your lunch now too." She said to me.

"Ok, Sir. Have a great lunch." I said to them, then head out of the office. I honestly felt like I was intruding on something while I was inside with the two of them. I guess she's Mr. Mitchel's girlfriend, right? He's so perfect to not have a girlfriend and honestly, I think they suit each other very well.