NOVEL NEXT Chapter 36: His Raspy, Seductive Voice
Feeling apprehensive, Damien got up from the seat and went over to his large glass window that was overlooking the city and said, "That doesn't make sense. Who would do something like this? Why her?"
"I don't have an answer for that. This is the extent of what I can help you with. I can help her medically but anything beyond that or whatever happened to her before, you'd have to seek help from someone else. You have your resources, brother. Why don't you make use of it?" Jeffrey got up from the sofa as well and started to pack up his things.
Damien didn't respond and Jeffrey perfectly understood his silence.
Jeffrey walked over to Damien, patted his shoulder and made him understand what he meant, "Look, I know you want to help her. You don't have to do anything drastic but at least find out about that accident. That way we can figure out what to do next."
"What if we don't find anything else? Can't you think of other ways on how to help her regain her memories?" Damien turned to his friend. He wanted to help Katherine gain back her life and he was helpless at the moment.
"You know well from the notes. We can't risk trying something that we are unsure about. This involves her overall health — physically and mentally. If she can't handle whatever she discovers, it's possible for her to be destructive just like the record says. If that happens, what then? Will you be able to handle it? Will she be able to handle it?"
Damien understood what Jeffrey was trying to point out. It was what he was scared about in the first place too. He didn't want to risk having Katherine hurt anyone or herself. Although he didn't know why and how she would be capable to do that; it was still a mystery for him.
"You're right. This is going to be tough. I'll think about it and look for other means. Until then, let's keep in touch." Damien shook hands with Jeffrey and walked with him to the elevators.
"You really care about her, don't you?" Jeffrey began as they waited for the elevator doors to open. "It's the first time I'm seeing you like this since–"
"Don't. Let's not talk about the past." Damien said dismissively.
Jeffrey made a small smile at his reaction. Brushing off the awkwardness, he added, "Just… take it easy with her. Don't force her to remember something. If she asks, consider your words first and answer carefully. We don't know what might trigger her."
Damien scratched his brow and sighed, "I don't know a lot about her either, except for those times that we met. So I could only tell her that."
…
After Jeffrey left, Damien strolled back to his office and opened the hidden door. The moment the door slid to the side, he was surprised to see Katherine's body falling towards him. He caught her in his arms as she shrieked — flustered that she lost her balance.
Her eyes grew wide when she realized that Damien caught her red-handed. She pushed herself away from him and stood ramrod straight like a soldier. She couldn't look at him in the eyes so she just settled on the button of his shirt.
'Yes, a button is good. What a pretty button.' She convinced herself that she could get away with the obvious mishap.
Seeing her reaction, Damien suppressed a laugh and made his expression grim as he walked around her like he was doing an inspection. "Were you eavesdropping, Ms. Miller?" He stopped behind her so that she couldn't see his teasing smile yet he tried to keep his voice stern as though he was scolding her.
"No… Yes." Katherine clenched her eyes and bit her lip. 'How stupid can you be, Kath? Eavesdropping? Really?'
Damien crossed his arms on his chest. "What did you hear then?" he asked in a low voice. He couldn't get mad at her — not after catching her like that.
"Nothing. I didn't hear anything. I swear!" She answered right away and Damien believed her.
He decided to let her go for now as they needed to leave already, but how could he possibly miss the chance to tease her just a little bit more?
Bending forward so that his lips were right above her ear, he whispered in a raspy, seductive voice, "For future reference... the walls around this area are soundproof. You could scream as much as you want and no one will ever hear you." The corners of his mouth curled up just before he walked past her and headed out to the office.
Katherine almost trembled when she felt his hot breath blowing against her ear. His voice, though hoarse, was like music to her ears that sent ripples of desire through her. She held her breath and the feeling only intensified. 'What are you doing to me, Damien?'
She curled her toes hearing his last sentence and thought about the different possibilities of why she would scream. 'He wouldn't possibly hurt me, right?'
As soon as she heard him walk away, she opened her eyes and immediately followed him out of the office clearing her throat, "This is going to be a long day."
…
Damien and Katherine reached the lobby and were about to get into his car when Katherine heard a familiar voice.
"Hi, I was wondering if there's a way that you can reach an employee named Katherine Miller? She works as the Marketing Director's assistant. She just joined recently. I'm her friend but I haven't been able to contact her. Can you–"
"Emma!" Katherine called the woman at the reception. "Ems, what are you doing here?" she slowly walked towards her.
"Oh my god! Kath!!!" Emma squealed as she ran to pounce on Katherine — the latter had to steady herself when she returned her hug. "Why aren't you answering my calls? I have been worried sick! Adam told me that you met him in the hospital yesterday, are you okay? What happened?"
"Calm down, Ems. People are watching…" Katherine whispered as she glanced sideways. "I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about. I have just been busy that's why I couldn't call back," she lied. Although they had a lot of things to do, she definitely had the chance to call Emma but she held back so that she didn't have to lie to her as to where she had been sleeping.
"Busy? How can you be that busy to tell your friend about your problems, huh? Is your boss making you work too hard? Doesn't he know that you'll fall ill if you're too exhausted? Where is he?! Let me give him a beating!" Emma continued to run her mouth. She was too worried about her friend the whole week and now that she finally saw her, she just couldn't stop herself.
"Emma! Just shhh!" Katherine's eyes widened. Her hand flew up to cover Emma's mouth to shush her and she glared at her too.
Just as this happened, Damien arrived at Katherine's side. "Is everything okay?"
Nodding profusely, Katherine forced a smile on her face. "Yes, Sir... It's just my friend... heh– she's just so happy to see me."
Emma brushed Katherine's hand away when she noticed Damien and pointed at him, "Are you her boss?! Why are you making her work so hard? What if she gets sick from exhaustion? Are you going to take care of her?!"
Katherine's eyes grew wide at the same time that Damien's brows raised. She could feel all her facial muscles twitch from embarrassment because of what her friend just said to the Resort King Damien Park...
In the middle of the lobby…
In his own company…
In front of so many employees.
What now, Katherine?