04

Johannes waited for her answer but she ended the call instead. The man sighed raspily while staring at his phone. He threw it on the floor as he loosened his tie. “Damn it!” He was even annoyed when he realized his irritation when his secretary ended the call.

“How dare you drop the call?” he clenched his jaw and took a deep breath. The woman inside his office snaked her arm around Johannes and slightly bit his ear.

“Why are you vexed? Hmm?” She asked, playing with the curls at the tip of his hair. Johannes slapped her hand. “Don’t touch my hair.” He coldly said. The woman smiled.

“Playing hard?” She clung her arm to his neck and kissed him. Johannes pushed her and wiped his lips harshly.

“Get out.”

“What?!” She was annoyed. The man had called her after a decade, does he think her time was free? She did her best to sneak out of his manager’s radar. She is an actress, and she had been waiting for the famous Johannes Alejandro to look at her and now that she got her chance, but he was suddenly pushing her away?

Ridiculous.

Why?

Because of the one that called him? Was that person more important than her presence? She’s even modeling for his company even after the contract ended because she was hoping that Johannes will attend to her. But he never did. He never even called her until now.

“Leave before I call someone to drag you out.”

“Asshole.” She closed the door loudly and even kicked a vase outside his office.

“Isn’t that Diane Baker?”

“You’re right.”

“Wow, she looks really pretty up close!”

“Why did she come from the CEO’s office?”

“Don’t you know?”

“What?”

“The boss had been having different women in that office!”

“Woah, how shameless—”

“Watch what you say! Are you insane?!”

“Am I not right? After what happened with Miss—”

“Didn’t you know what happened to Rona? The last one who mentioned that name got fired. She was one of the best but her career was over when she talked about it in front of the CEO,”

“Are you alright?” Harries asked her. She gave her a new cup of coffee. “You looked like a mess.” Nathalie smiled faintly at her. Harries sighed and sat beside the woman.

“You should have called me.”

“You were doing a surgery, Ries,”

“Still!”

“You’ve done a lot already, it’s fine. I’m fine.” Nathalie stared at her green eyes. Her lashes cast a shadow over her eyes as she looked at her with a soft expression. “You never changed, Nath. Still stubborn as ever. Tsk,” Nathalie let out a chortle as she stared at the children playing in the garden.

“I wish my brother had the time where he could play like that before. If that happened, he wouldn’t be so lonely right now,” her eyes heat up but Nathalie forced herself not to cry. Harries tapped her shoulder, “You were there for him, silly. I’m sure he wasn’t lonely,”

“The doctor said his condition was good last time,” Nathalie wiped the tear that escaped her eye. “Then why did he relapse last night? I was so scared, Harries. I thought I’d lost him,” Harries pulled her into a hug. Nathalie cried on her best friend’s shoulder; she was really scared.

When she read the text from Nathan’s attending doctor, she thought her world started collapsing. Nathalie did not even know how she drove herself to the hospital nor how she managed to get inside her brother’s room. She was cold and shivering in horror.

“Nathan’s fine now, Nath. It’s fine now,” Harries repeatedly told her. Praying that everything’s really going fine now.

Nathalie went back to work when everything in the hospital was settled. She was dressed in perfect condition as Johannes had required her ever since she started working for the man. She did not look like someone who had not slept for the whole week worrying for her little brother.

“This is your agenda for today, boss,” she handed him the tablet. Johannes stared at her.

“Where have you been?” She paused. Her eyes landed on his amber-colored pair and they locked with them. She smiled playfully, “Are you worried about me?” She asked, expecting the man to scoff at her.

But Johannes looked away as he gets the tablet from her hand. Nathalie stared at that behavior. Deep inside, she’s still hoping that what she was thinking was wrong. It should be wrong.

Johannes faked a cough and stood up from his seat. He went outside of the office as Nathalie brief him on what he needed to do for the rest of the day. The employees are greeting them as they walked past them.

“And in the afternoon, you have a lunch meeting with the Helion Corp.” Johannes's strides were huge so Nathalie had no choice but to practice walking at his pace. She is wearing heels but the five years of doing the same routine really paid off.

Not when they made a turn. Nathalie got out of balance! Her ankle twisted badly and she was falling to the ground. The woman had accepted her faith that she simply closed her eyes, waiting for her body to hit the floor but a minute had passed.

Nathalie opened her eyes, they widened when she saw herself lying on Johannes’s body. Did she drag him with her by instinct? Did she fall in his direction? Her head was full of thoughts while she stares at his eyes. 

“You’re heavy,” Johannes complained as he held her back so he could sit up. His back slightly hurt, it was a rushed rescue. He was reading through the emails earlier when Nathalie tripped. Johannes tried to catch her but they both fell to the ground.

‘I’m glad she did not fall to the floor. Tsk, it hurts,’ he thought as he stretched his shoulders. His eyes widened. What? He’s glad? Johannes shook his head as he stared at Nathalie. Her eyes are still full of worry as they stare at him. 

‘Do I like this woman?’ He asked himself.

‘Maybe?’ he was surprised when an inner thought answered him. He stared at her, they are still in an awkward position for an employer and an employee but Johannes doesn’t care at all.

Besides, this is a hallway where no employees are allowed as this is the way to the conference room. They only walked past this whenever they had a company meeting which they luckily hold every Wednesday of the last month.

Johannes was sitting with one hand supporting him. Nathalie tried standing up but the man dragged her. He pulled her closer, “B-Boss?” she asked nervously. Is he mad? She was overthinking again. This is the first time this ever happened and Nathalie is afraid she’d lose her job over such a rookie mistake. 

She gulped when Johannes did not answer. “I-I’m sorry boss. I didn’t mean to—” she stared at his finger that blocked her lips. He leaned toward the woman, Nathalie could hear his breathing as they are just inches away from each other.

“Boss?”

“Tsk,” he clicked his tongue as he was now sure of what those sleepless nights thinking about where the woman is meant. His gaze is locked on the woman, and Nathalie is feeling confused.

“Kiss me,” Nathalie was even more puzzled when those two words left Johannes’s lips.

She freezes, and cannot move at all.