Friday arrived, and it was ti for Chiqui and Cammy to present the draft design layout for Crossmart.
When Cammy handed her designs to Chiqui the day before, she was relieved to find that no major adjustnts were needed—Chiqui loved all of them. As a practice run before the CEO eting, Chiqui had her present the designs to Ethan in the afternoon.
Thankfully, Ethan was just as impressed as Chiqui and approved her work. Now, the only thing left was to hear the CEO’s feedback and decide which layout would be chosen for the website and app.
"Cammy, are you ready?" Chiqui called out as she stood up, preparing to head to the CEO’s office.
Cammy took a deep breath, nodded, and walked over to Chiqui’s desk, clutching her tablet. She couldn’t deny the nervousness gnawing at her—facing Greg always rattled her more than she liked to admit.
Though he constantly irritated her and stirred emotions she’d rather keep buried, he was still her boss, and deep down, she wanted to impress him. Cammy was determined to show him that she wasn’t like the other won from his past. She was more than that—capable, skilled, and far above the rest.
Cammy quietly followed Chiqui to the elevator, where they t Ethan, who was waiting just outside.
"Nervous?" Ethan asked as they stepped inside.
"A little," she replied, keeping it brief.
Chiqui gave her a reassuring pat on the back and smiled. "Don’t worry, it’s just going to be the four of us, and it’s not a formal presentation. Relax. You did great yesterday, so I’m sure the big boss will love it."
"She’s right, Cammy. Once the design is finalized, I’ll be the one to present it formally and not you, so don’t be nervous," Ethan backed up what Chiqui said.
Cammy nodded and smiled, pretending everything was fine. When they arrived on the CEO’s floor, Greg’s secretary signaled for them to enter his office.
Greg was on a call as they walked in, so they made themselves comfortable on the sofa in the center of the room. After a mont, Greg gestured for Ethan to set up the presentation on the projector. Ethan took Cammy’s tablet, connected it to the projector, and showed her how to use the remote control.
As soon as Greg ended the call, he urged Cammy to get started right away.
’You’ve got this! You can do this!’ Cammy ntally encouraged herself, trying to calm her nerves.
Fortunately, the presentation went smoothly, with Greg maintaining such a high level of professionalism that it was as if nothing had happened between them.
"These designs are fantastic, Ms. Watson!" Greg complinted. "Could you send them to my email right now? I’d like to print them and add my suggestions in specific areas."
"S-Sure..." Cammy quickly sent Greg a copy of her presentation. "It’s in your inbox, Mr. Cross. Please take a look."
With a few quick taps, Greg sent the file to his printer via Bluetooth, but a beep soon followed, signaling sothing was wrong. He got up to check it and, without glancing at Cammy, he called her out, "Ms. Watson, could you grab a ream of paper from the right drawer of my desk?"
Cammy promptly stood up and opened the first drawer, but there was no paper in sight.
"Oh, the bottom drawer, Ms. Watson," Greg clarified.
"Alright," Cammy replied as she pulled open the bottom drawer.
Her heart raced, and the world seed to freeze when she saw what was inside. With shaky hands, she carefully picked up the black lacey fabric resting atop the ream of paper. She was startled slightly when Greg cleared his throat.
"Erhm, Ms. Watson? Did you find it?" Greg asked.
Cammy slowly looked up at Greg, her eyes burning with intense fury, only to be t by his smile.
Greg’s smirk made her even angrier as she silently mouthed, "What the fuck?"
Their tense, wordless standoff was interrupted by Ethan. "Is it heavy, Cammy? Need any help?"
Cammy hurriedly stuffed her black lacey underwear—the very pair she couldn’t find that night at Greg’s villa—back into the drawer and grabbed the ream of paper. "No need, thanks! I’ve got it."
She walked toward Greg, squinting at him as he watched her approach.
"Could you help sort these? The paper clips are on your left," Greg instructed casually.
Cammy stayed silent and complied, hoping he’d let the earlier incident slide. But, of course, he didn’t.
With a mischievous smirk, Greg leaned in and whispered, "Aren’t you going to take it back?"
"No, just throw it away," Cammy dismissed coldly.
"If you’re not taking it back, I’ll keep it then. It has your scent. I haven’t washed it," Greg murmured in a low, teasing voice.
"What the heck!" she accidentally blurted out louder than she ant to, drawing the attention of Ethan and Chiqui.
"Oh, sorry! I stapled my finger by accident," Cammy quickly covered, as Greg’s smirk turned into a grin.
"Careful, Ms. Watson. We can’t afford to damage our designer’s hands. I’ll take that from here. Go back to your seat," Greg added with a wink.
Cammy raised an eyebrow at him before handing over the papers and returning to join Ethan and Chiqui.
Greg soon joined them with the printouts of Cammy’s design in hand. "I’m leaning toward the orange/red and yellow/black combinations," he said, as he made notes and sketches on the pages before handing them back to her.
"Could you incorporate my suggestions into the design? Let’s see how they look, and if they don’t work, feel free to suggest where they might fit better," Greg instructed.
"Got it, Mr. Cross. What’s my deadline for this?"
"Hmm..." Greg murmured, rubbing his chin with two fingers, pretending to be deep in thought. His eyes stayed fixed on Cammy, while Ethan and Chiqui were busy reviewing the docunts he’d given them earlier.
Cammy could feel the intensity of Greg’s gaze before he added, "I want to see you as soon as possible... with your final revision."
She clenched the papers in her hand, resisting the urge to roll them up and smack Greg over the head. ’He just never knows when to quit!’ she thought.
"Anything else, Ethan, Chiqui?" Greg asked quickly, giving Cammy no ti to respond.
"I think that’s it, Mr. Cross. Ms. Watson and I will return once the revisions are done," Chiqui replied.
"No need for that, Chiqui," Greg interjected smoothly. "Ms. Watson can present the revisions on her own. I know your departnt’s under pressure with deadlines, so your ti is better spent there. No need to accompany her, it’s just minor revisions anyway."
Unaware of the underlying tension, Chiqui smiled, relieved she wouldn’t have to et with the CEO for this task.
Cammy felt drained after the presentation with Greg, but she made a ntal note to finish the revisions as soon as possible just to get it over with. ’He only wants to present alone so he can ss with again, that pervert!’ she thought.
The idea of going to Greg’s office by herself was so exhausting that she lost track of ti, and before she knew it, it was ti to go ho.
Too tired to walk to the bus stop, she booked a car through the app, unaware of what was waiting for her at her apartnt.
When she reached the rooftop of her apartnt building, she found a box waiting for her by her doorstep, topped with a note. She picked it up, her eyes widening before narrowing as she gritted her teeth upon realizing who it was from.
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