Veil stared dumbstruck at Anders’ retreating figure, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes. She knew she should have just left the damn iPad back at home even if that meant appearing so incompetent. But at least, she would have gotten to the office early enough and in turn, would have avoided Anders’ wrath.But then again, she had a strong inkling that it was more than her coming late. It wasn't the first time Anders’ had gotten upset over his reaching the office before her, but it was never this intense. Something else was wrong, and she wasn't sure she was interested in finding out what it was.“What is the saying again?” she said in her head as she made the short journey back to her office. “Oblivion is sometimes bliss.”This oblivion couldn't be blissful in any way, and that would have only been if it had agreed to remain undiscovered. ***Anders walked in through the glass doors, barely noticing the people who bowed low in greeting as he walked briskly past them. This meetin
The ride back to the office was not uneventful for Anders, as for the most part, he replayed the covers he had with Orleans outside JK's building, counting the number of times he had to suppress the urge to hit him on the nose. Orleans was with Veil just last night, and there was no getting that away from his mind. She had opened her door to him as if it wasn't his first time coming around, and suddenly, Anders needed to break something to feel better.He had suppressed this rage so much that it was threatening to spill out of him in a rush.The driver looked at him through the overhead mirror, observing how Anders’ forehead was burrowed in concentration like he was trying to remember something or keep himself from remembering something. “Is anything the matter, Sir?” He asked.“Nothing is wrong,” Anders answered him curtly, ejecting every thought of the conversation continuing. He didn't want to have to talk about how nothing made sense right, about how all of these were based on a
A lot of things were happening all at once, maybe too much to pay attention to. Perhaps that was the reason Veil failed to pay attention to the voice of reason, which screamed at her to push Anders away and get the hell out of his office. But she couldn't.The moment his lips touched hers, she felt everything disappear. They were no longer in the office at Kingston Group, but at the same time, she couldn't decipher where they were. Perhaps Anders and Veil were lost in between time and space, where nothing else mattered other than the hot, smoldering kiss that was going on. At first, Veil felt her body tense up at Anders' intrusion, but that didn't discourage him. His lips lingered on hers, teasing and pleading with her to open up. The moment she did, Anders' mouth closed over hers, and she gasped from the feeling of his lips on hers. Veil tasted of vanilla ice cream and a tinge of strawberry, probably from her gloss. Anders drank in the odd yet alluring combination, tugging at her
“You look flustered. Are you fine?” Simon asked Veil as she got to the first floor, armed with her purse. The ride from the sixteenth floor to the first floor had been too quiet for her so much so that her mind had decided the best thing to do to while away time was to replay her kiss with the CEO of Kingston Group.“I'm fine, Simon,” Veil breathed, trying not to wobble on her feet. She still hadn't recovered from that intense moment, and she really needed to go home immediately.But Simon was still talking and she didn't want to cut him off.“Are you sure? Your face is red. Are you…”Veil knew he was just genuinely concerned, but she just wanted to be out of there. “I'm just tired, Simon. It's been a really long day, with Mr Rodriguez treating me like ….” Closing her eyes, Veil took a deep breath and tried again. “I just need to get some rest.”That seemed to have done the trick as Simon nodded and wished her a splendid evening. As Veil got outside the building, a red Lexus sports
June stared wide-eyed at her best friend, Veil, wielding a bat with so much ferocity in her eyes. She was still in her office clothes and looked like she had only just returned from work. When Veil had told her that her boss was a pain in the ass, June only just realized how serious her best friend must have been. “You aren’t supposed to be back until the weekend!” Veil yelled back, dropping the bat at once. “I thought you were a thief?”“A thief making toast and jam? Really? Come here!”Veil ran into the arms of her best friend, relishing in the familiar smell of her shampoo and perfume. She didn’t realize how much she had missed June until now when she was standing in the middle of the kitchen. It felt like ages since they’d last seen each other. “You look like you’ve lost a lot of weight since the last time I saw you,” June commented, holding Veil at arm’s length. “What has Kingston Group been feeding you?”Veil didn’t even want to think about work right now because then, she wou
June hadn't let Veil go to bed without telling her every single thing that had happened since she had been away, including the gift from Anders and the moment on the rooftop at the party. Of course, Veil left out the part where they kissed, as she didn't think it was important information for June to know. At least, not yet. The next morning, Veil was surprised to see June up as well when she went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. June was a remote worker who could work from the comfort of their house, so it was strange that she was awake that early. "I don't have any more stories for you," Veil yawned as she walked into the kitchen, grabbed a cup, and filled it with water. "I've had my fill of you," June answered, chuckling. "But do you know the best element in a story?""The suspense?""No! The imagery."Veil stared at her best friend like she had just grown horns overnight. "What are you rambling about? Are you sure you don't want to get back to bed?""I have decided that
Veil wished the ground would open up immediately and swallow her. The last thing she expected was for her best friend to appear before them after she had left clear instructions for her to return home. June seemed to be having a swell time as she giggled when Anders surprisingly took her hand in his and shook it firmly. “It’s nice to meet you as well, though I dare say this isn’t the first time I’ve seen you.”“Really?” June was impressed with his memory. It wasn’t her first time seeing him as well, but she hadn’t even expected him to recognize her, especially since he had no reason to pay attention to her. “Yeah. At the club. You’re a regular there. The club is one of my many establishments, and your name seems to come up often during the monthly account balancing. You also bring in impressive personalities.”“Wow!” June mouthed to Veil, wondering where the bad boss was. Anders was nothing but polite to her, and it made Veil look like a raging mad woman. “I’m flattered that you pa
JK Corporations were ready to receive them in their building for the meeting, but Anders had insisted that they meet on neutral ground this time. With the way he sounded, one would think they were going for a battle, where the war needed to be fought on a neutral and strange ground.Anders took the cup of coffee along with him, and he sipped it during the ride. Veil was pleased with the fact that Anders had seemed to stop complaining about the coffee she made and now drank it contently. She watched as he scrolled through his phone with so much concentration that she dared not interrupt. When Veil looked out of the car, she was surprised to find the driver pulling in front of Anders' usual restaurant. So much for neutral ground. This ground was familiar to Anders, which was why he chose it. "Isn't this…'"Say less and pay close attention, Veil," Anders interrupted, then alighted the car, taking the lead inside. They were the first to arrive, and Anders made some statements about tar