(Arata)
The next day, they left with Stella leaving my heart extrely burdened. I tried not to cry, but when I hugged Baba, a few tears slipped out and soaked into his pristine white shirt.
"Don’t hesitate to call and take care of yourself. Text daily whenever you reach ho from the office," Baba left several instructions and I assured him I would.
"If you ever need , just text; you know I will co instantly." Stella offered a tight hug and whispered in my ear. "Don’t forget to share the juicy tidbits about you know." I had to suppress a smile at her words, knowing she was just trying to make laugh.
Mom put on a bold front, "I have raised you strong and confident, never let anyone break that conviction of yours. Rember, it’s all here." She pointed to my head.
"I know, I will miss you guys. Give grandma my love." After many hugs and teary goodbyes, my family left and I got late for work.
Damn! Karsten was going to be livid at .
I sent a hasty text to Miranda that I would be slightly late so deliver him coffee at least.
Rushing to my Lexus RZ, whose colour resembled my natural hair, I hurriedly got in. Driving like a mad woman, I honked at other vehicles to let pass and even swearing. After 10 minutes of reckless driving and many many seething glares from the other drivers, I finally arrived at my office building and rushed inside, hoping my wig wouldn’t fly away and my glasses wouldn’t fall.
Luckily, I had chosen to wear pumps and a pantsuit today instead of a skirt. It helped freely move. The elevator dinged and I glanced at my phone. There were three missed calls from Miranda.
15 MINUTES....
I was late by a whole 15 minutes, and I was sure Mr. Microseconds would have smoke coming out of his nostrils.
I rushed to Miranda’s office and she was pacing it with her fist on her mouth. Chan was also present and was rapidly talking.
"Arata! There you are, finally." Relief seed to descend on her face seeing as she rushed towards .
"Good morning!" I sheepishly waved, "Sorry, I am late. My parents were in town."
"Hello! Arata." Chan waved at with his cheeky smile. It’s just rotten luck but the boss is in a horrible mood." I wanted to roll my eyes at Chan’s words and say.
’When is he not in a bad mood?’
I had begun to believe Mondays were cursed; every ti I returned after weekends, he was in a relatively bad mood.
Instead, I asked.
"What happened?"
"Our shipnt is delayed, which should have arrived last Friday. We have already taken orders, and they could get delayed and cost us. It is a big order and if we don’t deliver on ti, it can get cancelled and trust , that doesn’t happen under Mr Karsten," Chan summarised.
This was bad, like really bad.
"What’s in the shipnt?" I asked, clutching the back of the chair. Chan had on a light grey dress shirt and a loose silver tie. Angling himself against the desk he faced while Miranda continued her pacing.
"Swanzi Land Cotton—it’s very expensive and hard to obtain."
I was aware of this cotton, it was only grown on a few islands in the world. Being the most expensive cotton known, it was used to create fabric, which cost a fortune.
We acquired and used it through Mom’s company Adam’s Corporation—since it dealt with import and export and one of the Islands where it was grown was near Angel City, we had access to it.
"I know, but why is the shipnt delayed?" I asked.
Miranda paused and answered. "A storm in the sea and the ship is delayed. Likely, we will not get that shipnt for at least two more weeks." She let out a frustrated amount of air.
I could imagine why Karsten would be in a horrible mood.
"I see, did Mr Karsten take his coffee?"
Miranda sympathetically shook her head at .
"He said and I quote: Where is Arata? It’s her job now, not yours. Take it back."
Shit, this was bad. But I had an idea and knew this might lighten his mood.
"I will take it to him and hopefully will return alive," I mumbled, rolling my eyes this ti. Chan laughed placing his hand on his tummy.
"Good luck, you are his girlfriend now, I am sure he will be lenient."
"Yeah! Pretending girlfriend, you know that." Miranda and Chan knew about the contract I had signed with Karsten.
I moved to prepare his coffee, it was ti to face the icy devil.
"Return to us whole, and we will have lunch together, all three of us," Chan called behind , and I waved the back of my hand while saying.
"Wish luck."
Proceeding to the coffee machine, I sent a million thanks to Miranda, who had prepared the coffee. Checking the colour, I ensured the colour resembled the blackest coal in the coal mine.
I grabbed his cup and poured the hot liquid in before heading towards his office with a loudly thudding heart. My hands were slightly shaking but I tried to keep them steady.
Pressing the company’s logo I waited for his permission to enter. The gruff voice didn’t take long to spill through the speaker.
Quickly pushing open the door I entered and found him on a phone call. His half-face was visible as he stood with his slanting fingers pressed on his desk while the Bluetooth device in his ear was blinking. The greyish blue shirt he had on had sleeves turned up to reveal those strong arms of his.
"Then get an update, damn it." He spoke so loud and harsh that I felt his voice in my bones. Hurling the device away from his ear he ended the call as I approached his desk and placed down the coffee cup.
He fully turned to watch and the light from light scones bathed him in its glow. His eyes held storms today and I wasn’t going to cross them.
"You were late, don’t you know it’s unethical? How many tis have I said, I hate tardiness?" He seethed out but I remained relaxed.
"I apologise, Sir. My parents were in town and...." He held up his hand, palm facing so the rest of my words were drowned into my mouth and I tightly shut my mouth.
"Just because I kissed you, you don’t get a free pass to be late from work. That was for pretend. This behaviour won’t be tolerated. Don’t think you will get special treatnt."
Ugh! I wished to hurl sothing towards him. Who did he think he was?
Chris Evans? Or Henry Cavill?
Even they didn’t have roof-touching egos.
"With due respect, I already apologised and you don’t have to rub that kiss in every ti I might make a mistake. I am your secretary, not your punching bag." I tightened my hands around my arms before continuing. "Please! Don’t take out the frustration of that late shipnt on ," I flatly told him, my eyes burning with the sa rage as his.
He stared at with his lips thinning out in utmost dissatisfaction. I had sothing in mind but it was difficult to speak to him when he was like this, throwing personal attacks.
"Take away this coffee and don’t disturb ." He dismissed with a wave of his hand.
Insufferable.
Moving forward I picked up the cup and left his office without glancing back at . But as I reached my office I took out my phone and texted Mom.
{Mom, this is urgent. Reach out as soon as you get this and keep it between us.}
Now all I had to do was wait.
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