Chapter Two: Between Two Choices

“Hello everyone. My name is Kathleen Murphy, you can call me Kat and I look forward to working with you. I hope to learn from you and get to know you all.” she said with a beaming smile at the people standing in front of her. Their happy smiles as they waved and bowed.

“Welcome to GreyCorps, Kat. My name is Susie.” A bubbly redheaded lady said with giggles, handing her a small gift tied with pink ribbons.

“Nice to meet you Susie and thank you,” Kat responded, receiving the package with a warm smile.

The rest of them took turns welcoming her along with a cute bento cake they made for her.

They seemed nice, compared to what the rumors said about them — the workers at GreyCorps. According to the rumors about them, everything was all work. It was as if they were bound to a demonic master who hated happy moments.

The previous week had taken an unexpected turn. From Rowland announcing the sudden transfer to finding herself in GreyCorps, the lair of the demon master.

The little gathering dispersed quickly, everyone running to their seats and returning to work as if they weren't just smiling some seconds ago.

Kat knew the devil was around, and he was standing behind her. Summoning every patience and strength she could muster, she turned with a big smile.

“Good —”

It felt like her heart stopped beating the instant her eyes met with his. He looked different than she saw him five years ago. His expression softened and he quickly looked away.

The words felt stuck in her throat as she looked at him. She couldn't take her eyes off him. His 6’3” frame standing above her and his well-structured facial features gave her heartbeat the thumping of their life.

Just like five years ago.

“I see you have a lot of time on your hands.” He replied coldly, his gaze piercing deeply into her as he looked at the cake and gift in her hands.

Kat swallowed hard and moved back to regain her balance. His gaze was all over her, his dark green eyes looking straight into her soul. She had promised herself not to be shaken by whatever happened, but as strong as her legs were trying to be, they lost balance immediately.

“I–”

He walked past her before she could even complete her sentence and then stopped.

Kat turned, his silver hair glistening from proper care as he brushed it off his face when he turned to look at her.

“You've got icing on your shirt.” He said and left.

“Icing? There's no…” She looked at her stained shirt. The red icing stains on the white shirt. The shock had made her grab the cake subconsciously when she wanted to find her balance.

“Idiot!”

Her office was directly in front of him, a direct view of his magnificent and gigantic office as well as directly at him behind the desk.

Everything was quiet, as if there wasn't some whooping and clapping the moment she came in. Everyone went about their work, seriousness written all over their faces and serious quiet except for the clock and printers running.

Kat gently unboxed her things as she settled in her space. One thing was even clearer now, to try as much as possible to avoid Levi Grey and finish up with the work she was there to do.

“Kat”

Kat heard a voice whisper.

“It's me, Susie.” She whispered again, signaling to Kat.

“Hi, Susie,” Kat whispered back, bending behind her table.

“I wanted to ask if you wouldn't mind joining us for dinner after work.”

“Not at all. That would be lovely.” She said with a smile. Susie winked with a big smile and continued with her work.

“Oh my gosh!” Kat screamed in shock as she sat up to find someone by her table.

“Hello Miss Kathleen,” the lady said, adjusting her rimless glasses. She looked tired, dark circles and big eye bags under her eyes. “My name is Gwen, Mr Grey's assistant. Here are some documents you need to sign. I'll be collecting them after you've signed.” She said with a smile and left.

That was strange. She remembered collecting every document about the project before leaving Valtara. Tearing open the seal, Kat began to read.

“Under no circumstances should party B disclose reasons for transfer to anybody.

Under no circumstances should Party B share activities or incidents with anybody…” Kathleen skimmed through until her eyes caught something. “... Party B will work together with Party A where they will live together till the project is over.”

That was it? A contract? Live together? Nobody mentioned anything about living with anybody, and as far as she could remember, the project description never mentioned anything of such.

Kat stormed into his office, confused and series of questions running through her mind.

“You've gotten the documents from Gwen.” He said without looking up.

Kat clenched the papers tight and threw them in front of him. “Care to explain this?”

“Everything you see there is true. You can state your questions if you have any.”

“I don't understand what's going on. I remember clearly that there was nothing mentioned about GreyCorps or working with you when I talked to Freya.”

“Then I guess you should talk to her again.” He finally looked at her and then folded his arms.

Kat avoided his eyes immediately and continued, “This is bullshit! First, it was transferring to GreyCorps and now it's living with you? If this was all everything was about, I could work remotely then.”

Levi moved his chair closer and put his hands on the table. “We both know how important this project is and how careful and discreet we have to be…”

“And do you think living together is discreet enough? Coming here in the first place is suspicious enough as the only thing I get to do is discuss the project in private meetings with you and the creative manager.” Kat fumed. “I don't even have the darndest clue on who on earth that is.”

“Me.”

For the first time since the conversation began, Kat looked at him, her hazel eyes widening in surprise. He was serious. The creative director was still him, and not some flashy-looking genius with a bizarre fashion sense that she had imagined.

“Excuse me?” She asked, blinking her eyes. “What do you mean you?”

“Didn't Rowland tell you everything?”

“And would I be here asking who the fuck I'm actually working with if I knew” Kat's thoughts were beginning to come together?

The transfer wasn't as sudden as Rowland described it to be. The ‘creative assistant’ title was just a formality stunt and the Jourdan project wasn't actually awarded to Valtara in the first place.

“About what?”

“This project isn't about creating designs alone or whatever easy-peasy job you might be thinking this is. Any flop at all is sending you to jail, Valtara will be run down, and your career goes bye-bye.” He said sternly.

Kat took a seat and pushed it close to his table. She felt anger seeping through her. The fact that he was thinking she wasn't capable enough or that she was being unserious made her furious.

“You have no right to say that I am being unserious. I know very well what is at stake if this job goes sideways and we both know that if there's anyone that can take on this job, it's me." She said with all seriousness. "The only thing here is that you are not being clear on why I am here and why I have to live together with you!”

There was a brief silence between the two of them. There was something he wasn't saying and Kat could feel it. Or was it something that had to do with her?

“You'll begin work fully tomorrow. I'll pick you up after work.” He got up, grabbed his jacket, and left the office.

Kat could feel fumes smoking out of her ears. “I'll pick you up after work.” She mocked. He was still as arrogant as she remembered him. How on earth did she ever fall for someone like him five years ago?

Angrily, she left his office and went back to her seat. He hadn't even explained why she had to live with him or why he was involved in the project at all. His smirk after he said he would pick her up after work was annoying — so annoying that she wanted to slap his face away.

“This is a mess… Oh fuck! Susie! The dinner!”

She looked at the time on her wristwatch. “6:30pm”. She didn't even know when the time went by that fast.

She was the only one around, they were outside waiting for her. Even if she wanted to tell Levi she had plans, she didn't have his phone number and he wasn't in his office.

She grabbed her bag, looked at the empty office, and then the papers staring at her. Levi still had some explaining to do. She took the papers and left to meet them outside.