“What…no…you can’t ask me to do that '' where does she get off, who does she think she is? “what is it that I did wrong here?” I stood up, knocking the chair to the ground. “From where I’m standing I see two people innocently riding the elevator together, should I resign simply because I just happen to be in the same elevator as President Keng?”
“We both know your relationship is more than that” she took an envelope out of her bag and threw it on the table, I took it and opened it.
My eyes widened as I looked at the pictures of Kein holding me tight outside my house kissing me on the neck
“Well, are you going to deny those photos also?” I took a deep breath feeling overwhelmed, then something occurred to me
“So, what?” she shot her eyes up at me “so what if we are having an affair?” she glared at me “maybe you need to get those glasses checked because I saw two people in that video, and oh look here, there are two people in these photos too” I threw the envelope back on the table and glared at her “you can’t touch me, whatever you wanna do to me, you’ll have to do it to him too” check mate bitch
“If you refuse to cooperate, I will make your life a living hell”
“I’m not scared of you Secretary Yeon” I threw daggers with my eyes at her “do your worst, because I’m not going anywhere” her face was stern and menacing as she stood her ground, neither of us backing down
The door opened and in walked two men and a lady, one was bold and looked to be in his late forties, he had a small gut and wore glasses, the other man was much younger he seemed to be in his late twenties or early thirties, he had a masculine frame and thick eyebrows that matched his thick flowing hair, the lady looked young too also in her early thirties, she had a small frame, smaller than mine and she wore her hair in a low ponytail, all of them wore black and white showing no individual personality at all.
“Good you’re already here, we went by your office, but you weren’t there, so we got worried that you might have missed the email” the older gentleman said looking at me
“Oh, we have a meeting together, today?” the confusion in my voice blatantly apparent
“Yes, I guess you did miss the email, it’s lucky we found you here then” the younger gentleman chimed in
“What is this meeting about if I may ask?” I smiled awkwardly at hem looking from one to the other
“It’s about your proposal Miss Thompson” I didn’t have to look to know who it was, I know that scent anywhere, I turned and quickly picked up the photos scattered on the table, shoved them in the envelope and sealed it hiding it behind my back
“Oh, is there something wrong with it?” I asked inching away from him and taking a seat on the opposite end of the U-Shaped table
“Yes and no, I know you’re still new here, but we have processes that need to be followed” his face had no expression as he sat down, his cold stare sent a ping in my heart
“Processes, did I miss something Sir?”
“These are important clients Miss Thompson, how are you planning on impressing them and keeping them happy without an approved budget, or an approved contract, marketing here says you haven’t as much as sent an email to them” he was angry his body was rigid, his normally soft loving eyes were hard and piercing as he spoke to me
“I don’t understand, I sent the proposal to all the relevant departments last Friday Sir” I looked at all the department representatives as their eyes shifted telling me that they were throwing me under the bus and they knew it “I have proof” I barked, ready to defend myself
“If I may President Keng” Secretary Yeon chimed in with a fake smile “I believe Miss Thompson sent another email” she looked in her bag and took out a piece of paper handing it to Kein, I tried to get a glimpse of it, but I couldn’t see anything
“As you can see, she retracted her previous email saying that the planned itinerary didn’t show the true spirit of Korea and that she will send the revised proposal by ten am Monday which was about... “she looked at her watch “thirty-five minutes ago” she looked at me shaking her head in disappointment
“Wait, hold on, can I see that please” I looked at the piece of paper that had an email from me to all the departments stating everything she has just said, “but I didn’t write this”
“Is that not your email address?” Kein questioned
“Yes it is but, I didn’t…” I looked at Secretary Yeon and she had a devious smile on her face
“The email has your signature, sent from your email, I don’t want to hear any more excuses Miss Thompson, I expect you to have the new proposal on my desk by five pm, is that understood?” I nodded and watched as they all walked out one after the other, the door closed, and I plopped back down on the chair.
“Make my life a living hell, hu, so that’s what you meant, either I quit, or you’ll get me fired” I sucked in a deep breath “well, you’re gonna have to do better than that” I got up and rushed to my desk and redid the presentation, updated the proposal and marketing plan.
My phone buzzed “shit” I hissed, picking it up “April I’m sorry but I can’t take you to the airport, I’m sorry sisi, facetime me when you get there, love you” I put the phone down and went back to work.
I emailed and hand delivered the new proposal to everyone involved at five pm, I was proud of myself for finishing everything right on time, I sat alone in the office changing my passwords to all my social media and my personal and work email accounts, I know it seems like I'm being paranoid but how the hell did they access my email account. The passwords were hard to crack, full of special characters, numbers, upper- and lower-case letters, don’t worry I wrote them all down.
I walked out of the building and looked up at the starlit Korean sky and breathed in deeply, the air had a hint of rain on its way, I took another deep breath, “that has to be the most peaceful smell ever” I said softly to myself still looking up at the night sky
“Get in” I lowered my head to the smooth sounding voice and saw a black SUV with heavily tinted windows, with the red headed Mrs Keng wearing a white form fitting dress looking back at me gesturing for me to get in, I obeyed without giving it a second thought
I don’t know why I’m willing to just get in a heavily tinted car with a person that hates me the most in the entire world, I sat next to her offering her a small awkward smile, the door closed, and my heart pounded, two men sat the front, one was driving and the other a passenger, she could be planning to kill me and dispose of my body, and no one will ever know
“Where are we going?” I asked fear starting to take me over
“Are you nervous” she chuckled softly “don’t be, I just want us to chat that’s all" I nodded, and we sat in silence as the car glided through the streets, it came to a stop just outside the city at a small family restaurant
“I came here whenever I want to be alone, fame does have its disadvantages sometimes” I detected a hint of sadness in her voice as we sat at a small table at the back of the restaurant
“Oh, we didn’t order that” I said to the waiter as he laid two plates of hot steamy seafood ramen and two bottles of Soju in front of us.
“Mrs Keng always orders the same thing, there’s no need for us to take her order”
“Oh, okay…thank you” I said awkwardly, she smiled and nodded to the waiter, and he walked away
“I like you” she smiled at me “that’s why I’m going to be honest with you” she took an envelope out of her bag and handed it to me
“What’s with people handing me envelopes today” I said softly to myself as I opened it “petition for divorce” I gasped up at her
“Yep, he wants a divorce, he says you are the love of his life, can you believe that?” she chuckled “I gave him impossible terms and he still took them” she looked down at her food swirling her food around lost in thought
“What…what terms?” I asked in a soft low voice, she looked up and her face had no expression
“Ownership of his company” my eyes widened, and my jaw hit the floor “he will give up everything…everything for you” her eyes and face questioning the words she spoke, I saw her eyes glistening with tears.
I covered my mouth with my hand, I can’t let him give up everything for me, everything he has worked for, how can I let him start all over again because of me, I bit my lip and look at her
“Since you brought me here, I’m assuming there is something you want” she was halfway through her drink now and it was starting to affect her
“I’m not signing those papers; I don’t care that you’re his mate” I shot my eyes up at her
“What do you mean mate?” she scoffed and took another gulp
“You should do a better job at keeping your secret society secrete”
“What do you mean…what are you talking about” she took another shot “Mrs Keng, I need you to really concentrate right now and tell me exactly what you’re talking about” my voice as commanding as it could possibly be
“I’ll do you one better” she smiled taking her phone out and pressing play, I looked at a video of a wolf howling at the moon
“It’s a wolf so?..” I asked trying to act calm
“Just keep watching” she was drunk now, her Soju was all gone, and she took mine, opened it and poured herself another shot.
The wolf came into the light, it had a reddish-brown coat with big dark black eyes, and I watched as it started to shift
I gasped looking at the wolf slowly turning back to its human form, its fur disappeared, its wolf's snout turned back to his human nose, he got off his hands and feet and stood on two feet, naked in his human form.
Her laugh screeched sounding like a witch’s hackle at the expression on my face
“Oh my god, Kein”