5: Unexpected Vacation

I hesitantly followed Sir Mitchel to his car after I got discharged. I kept telling him that I can go home by myself but he still insisted on taking me home himself so I let him. 

"Where to Catherine?" he asked as he got inside the driver's seat.

"Just to the nearest terminal, Sir. I can find my way home from there." I said to him and he turned to look at me with a vague expression on his face.

"I insist Ms. Aragon. I'll drive you home. It's already the early hours of the morning, we don't want a repeat of what happened earlier, right?" He reasoned out, so I reluctantly told him my address. We drove through the city quietly, but something keeps bugging me and I just can't control my curiosity anymore.

"Sir? Thank you for lending me your shirt and for... Uhm... saving me earlier." I shyly said with my head down, not knowing how to start the conversation with him. I couldn't remember anything after I passed out but I woke up wearing his polo shirt. So now, I can't even look at him without blushing because of his slightly exposed chest under his office coat.

"No problem Catherine." He simply said to me while still focusing on the road.

"About what happened, sir. What happened to..." I began, fidgeting with my fingers, not knowing how to continue the question.

"I already took care of that security guard. He's currently at the police station. My lawyer is currently taking care of the situation. Oh right! I also need to talk to you about that. Do you want to press charges against him?" He asked as his eyes were focused on the road. I continued to stay silent as he suddenly stopped the car.

"I'll just get something, then I'll take you home. Look, Catherine, I don't want to force you to do something that you don't want to. Just think about it, okay? At the end of the day, it's still going to be your call." He gave me an assuring smile and I just nodded in response as he opened the car door and got out.

"I'll be right back." He said before closing the door of the driver's seat.

His words kept repeating in my mind as I waited for him alone in his car. I don't want to be the center of gossip if ever this comes out. I know I didn't do anything wrong and that I'm the victim here, but I know people always find a way to manipulate these types of situations and blame the victim for whatever happened to them. And with my current rumors already circling the office, this would only fan the flame. 

"Here." Sir Gavin said as soon as he opened the door, passing me a brown paper bag after he got in the driver's seat.

"What's all this?" I asked confused. I peeked inside the brown bag and was surprised when I saw what was inside. Inside, I found wound cleaning supplies, bandages, medical tape, and even the antibiotics that were prescribed to me.

"You heard what the doctor said." He said to me as he started driving again. I couldn't help but smile at the hidden thoughtfulness of my boss. I closed the brown bag and tucked it inside my bag for safekeeping, and we just spend the rest of the way in silence.

I took off my seatbelt and started gathering my things as he slowed down to a stop in front of my apartment. I turned to him and saw that he too was looking at me with a vague expression.

"Sir, I want to press charges against Luigi. And I know I'm not in the position to ask you for favors, but I'm going to ask anyway." I said, then waited for any reactions from him. He just nodded at me, urging me to continue, what I was saying.

"Can this stay just between us? I don't want anyone else to find out what happened with Luigi. We can just say that I cut my hand while I was cooking." I felt like I was walking on eggshells as I wait for his reaction. I was surprised when he nodded and smiled at me, letting me know that he understood.

"You don't have to worry about that Catherine. I'll make sure that everything will be under wraps. And, oh, before I forget, take the rest of the week off and come back on Monday." He said that took me a bit by surprise.

"But sir, I still have to do the revisions for the comic. Not only that but I also have things to do for the other projects that I'm in. I'm kinda behind a bit with my work, I don't think I can afford to be on leave." I reasoned with him, but he just shook his head, disagreeing with me.

"Don't worry about the revisions that we talked about earlier, I'll just tell the team to send their proposal to me and just loop you in the email, then I'll do the revisions for it. For your other projects, I don't think there's anything that has a deadline on Friday."

"Are you sure it's okay, sir?" I asked again, still troubled by the amount of work I'm going to pass onto him.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now go home and get some rest and I'll see you on Monday." I nodded to him and said my good night before getting out of the car. I watched him drive off through the night before heading inside.  And as I got inside, fatigue sank in, I feel sore all over so I went straight to my room. I dropped all my bags on my bedroom floor and noticed my phone on top of my bedside table.

"So, I did leave you here." I mumbled to myself as I flop down on my bed. I opened my phone and immediately sent a text to Andrea.

"Something crazy just happened to me. Call me as soon as reach home."  I hit sent and placed my phone back on the table and went to the bathroom to freshen up before going to bed.

I laid down on my bed after I changed into my pajamas and I was already drifting to sleep when my phone suddenly rang.

"What happened?" She immediately asked as soon as I answered. I gave her a brief rundown of everything that happened and she just can't believe what I just told her, but I couldn't exactly understand what she was saying. I guess I was too tired and spent from everything that happened that I drifted off to sleep without even finishing the call.

Just like what Sir Mitchel said last night, I took the rest of the week off. It took a lot of explaining to the team, but they understood my situation and easily let me off the hook. I sent an email to Sir Mitchel with the list of things that needs to be revised and overlook for our new proposal to make things a bit easier for him. 

I spend the whole day sorting things out at my apartment, I never had this much time on my hands before so I ended up cleaning every nook and cranny of my apartment. It was already six o'clock when I finished and was about to call for a delivery when my doorbell started ringing.

Confused about who that could be, I opened the door and I was greeted with Andrea's smiling face as she was raising a plastic bag with takeout. I smiled at her and opened the door wider, letting her in.

"What have you been up to?" she asked and I just groaned at her.

"Just cleaning the whole apartment. I got so bored." I said to her as we sat down on my carpet laying all of the food that she got on my center table.

"Oh gosh! You weren't kidding when you said your hand was sliced open." she said to me taking a good look at my bandaged hand.

We had our dinner together as I told her everything that happened last night in complete detail. She just stayed quiet the whole time, waiting for me to finish. Shivers still run down my spine as I relive the experience.

"Gosh! Are you okay Cath? Do you want to go to a therapist?" She asked but I just shook my head and gave her a weak smile.

"I think I'm fine. I don't want to talk about it over again, especially to a stranger. And I honestly don't want more people to find out. So please don't tell anyone about this, especially your parents. We both know that if your parents know, it's only a matter of time before mine would know as well." I said to her and she just nodded before stuffing her mouth with food.

"Luigi has always been nice to you, but I never thought that he was obsessed. That psycho stalker." She said, still in total shock and disbelief.

"I don't know, but I always felt weird around him. Honestly, I've always thought that he was a bit creepy I was just so shocked that he'd go that far." I said to her, as I also help myself with the food.

"But you know what's more shocking?" she suddenly asked, I looked up from my meal and just stared at her. Curious about what she has to say.

"Why did Sir Mitchel go up to the office again? Could he possibly know that you were still in the office?" she asked maliciously, bouncing her eyebrows up and down.

"Maybe he heard my ear-shattering screams from the basement parking lot and tried to look for the banshee that could have made it." I jokingly said to her, really not knowing what to say, but then she dropped a bomb on me.

"Maybe Gavin has a little crush on you Cath."