NOVEL NEXT Chapter 44: All Sides and Kinds of Katherine
Damien grabbed his coat and walked with her towards the elevator. Stepping inside, Katherine stood with her chin up looking so confident than ever. A sight that he was familiar with; however, seeing it on her current self, he thought that it was quite peculiar but at the same time fitting.
He loved the sexy and confident Katherine, yet he also loved it when she was being silly or awkward around him or even when she showed her annoyance or irritation. He liked all sides and kinds of Katherine.
Wait… Love? Like? He turned his head and glanced at her as if he was trying to double-check what his mind and heart were telling him.
Whatever it was, he liked the feeling.
They reached the parking lot and when they got settled inside Damien's car, Katherine started to panic. The confidence that she had a while ago was suddenly bidding her goodbye as if her own self was playing tricks on her. What the hell was she thinking? Agreeing to a date with her boss? Really? She realized her response to his invitation was rather bold. Did she think she could really stand beside this god-like man?
"Your cooking was delicious. Thank you, by the way…" he said without taking his eyes off the road.
Katherine revealed a small smile and did not respond. Her heart jumped at the sound of his kind words.
"Since we just ate, how about dessert?"
"Uh… yeah. Dessert is good. I'm fine with dessert." She nodded.
"Good. I know a great gelato shop downtown." A teasing smile formed on his face when he added, "You like chocolate right?"
"Hmmm?" She turned to face him and saw the look on his face. She had cleaned the tub and washed the pillow in the afternoon and she still didn't understand how there was chocolate on it. Was Damien teasing her? "Ummm… yeah, I like chocolates."
'In fact… I love chocolates so much. I will marry it,' she told herself when she smiled back at him before she looked out the window. Damien chuckled softly, keeping the memory from last night to himself.
They reached a neighborhood in Harbor City where the district was known for its clubs, entertainment, and a place where indie musicians are found busking especially on weekends.
Katherine stretched her neck to check out the crowd and her eyes sparkled when she saw how lively the place was.
Noticing her fascination, Damien stepped on the breaks and parked the car on the side of the road. "Do you want to go and check it out?"
Her smile reached her eyes when she nodded her head. "Can we?"
Seeing her expression… of course, they can.
They got out of the car and walked towards the buskers that had the most crowd. There were three of them in the group – one was on the portable drum set, another with a guitar and the third man held a microphone.
Katherine maneuvered her way into the sea of people until she reached the front with Damien following her. The musicians played an upbeat song and the crowd joined the fun by dancing to the music.
A man who was part of their group danced and moved to the rhythm of the music until he scanned the crowd and saw a stunning woman in a black dress. With a grin on his face, he grabbed Katherine by the hand and pulled her to the middle of the mini-stage.
"Wait–" she tried to protest but the man didn't listen and made her follow his steps.
Damien jerked forward the moment Katherine was pulled by the stranger but he stayed in place when he saw that they just wanted to have fun. And soon, he saw Katherine smiling and dancing along with them.
Her hair flipped and her body swayed to the music; he was instantly reminded of that night five years ago when the two of them danced together. Both of them were wearing masks yet he knew exactly who she was and somehow, she also knew it was him. It was definitely a night he could never forget. Because that night... was the night that they had their first kiss.
She was clearly having fun and he loved looking at her beautiful and radiant face. It's an expression that he didn't get to see years ago.
The approving look that he had was immediately wiped off his face when two more men from the crowd went in and joined the dance, sandwiching Katherine in between. Quickly taking something from his wallet, he strode forward and grabbed Katherine's hand at the same time that he slapped a hundred dollar bill on the performer's chest and then he dragged her away from the scene.
"B-boss…" Katherine struggled to keep up with him but she laughed when she realized what he did just now.
"All right, all right… slow down…" she chuckled.
Damien stopped and faced her with both of his hands on his waist – he was annoyed that she was laughing at his reaction.
"Come on, the gelato shop isn't far from here." He said as he walked ahead of her and Katherine tried to keep up with his pace.
Later, the two of them sat on a bench right outside the shop while eating the creamy dessert. Katherine just had her second scoop when she thought to ask him something. "Can you tell me something about my past?"
Surprised by her sudden question, Damien stared at her for a few seconds before he thought about his answer. He placed the cup on the side and looked at her as he tried to remember.
"And be honest… no jokes this time."
Damien grinned at her warning. "You were confident… and full of surprises. But you didn't tell me much… so I always thought that you were mysterious."
"Mysterious? What kind of secrets would I have to be mysterious?" she scoffed.
His grin was replaced with a serious look as he replied. "I don't know… I never knew your secrets."
Katherine saw a mixture of wonder and frustration in his eyes and she wanted to ask further questions but he was quick to change his expression into a gentle one.
"I'll go and get you a bottle of water." He stood up and walked inside the shop.
Brushing off her thoughts, Katherine turned her head to the side and a figure caught her attention. A man was looking at her from a distance. He was wearing a black outfit with a hooded jacket and he stood at the corner while he gazed intently at her. He watched her as if he was studying her every move, his eyes never wavered. She didn't recognize the man and she wondered if he knew her.
People were passing by in front of her and she tried to keep her eyes on the strange man. But when she stood up to look at him further, he was gone.
Katherine furrowed her brows and spun around looking for him but she could no longer see him. The spot where the man once stood was now empty.
"Katherine? Everything okay?" Damien came to her side and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Ah yeah… I just thought I saw–" she glanced at the spot again and shook her head. "Nevermind… it's nothing."
"Are you sure?"
Katherine nodded as she received the water bottle from him. He removed his coat and placed it over her shoulders seeing that her dress was so thin and it was getting chilly. "Let's go?" he casually placed his hand on her back as they walked towards his car at the end of the district.
…
Later that night, Katherine tried to persuade Damien to switch sleeping arrangements with her. She felt guilty letting him sleep on the sofa while she stayed on his bed. But after so many attempts, she still ended up shoved to his bed as he "ordered" her to sleep on it before he went out of the room.
She fell asleep nearly ten in the evening but despite the comfortable bed, she didn't have a good sleep.
Katherine dreamt that she was being chased. Her body was weak but she ran so fast and pushed herself to get away from something she didn't even know what.
Just as she arrived at the corner of the street, a tall man captured her and no matter how much she fought, she was defenseless. The next thing she knew, she was on a bed and couldn't see anything. All she could feel was how painful everything was.
Katherine screamed at the top of her lungs.
Pleading in between, "Stop! Please stop!"
She was gasping for air like she was drowning, only she wasn't and it was so painful.
"Katherine." She heard his voice but she couldn't see him.
"Katherine!" Damien's voice rang in her ear. It was so loud her eyes shot up open.
She gasped when she opened her eyes and saw the bright lights in Damien's room. He was holding her shoulders as she panted and tried to adjust to reality — anxiety was apparent on his face.
"It's okay… it was just a dream," he comforted as he pulled her closer for an embrace. "You're okay…" he chanted until her breathing returned to normal.