Chapter 15

Bethany was left inside with the girl group talking and chatting about topics that are not known to her. All of them know their way on different social media sites where they reach out to their fans and communicate with them. Plus, some of them are already talking about the kinds of songs that they are going to write for their upcoming music release courtesy of the CEO himself.

On top of that, she does not feel any hostility or an off feeling coming from the band. She is really correct liking their music a little even when most of her colleagues don’t even listen to them. They are such a humble bunch.

She is listening to them but gets focused on typing the minutes of their meeting earlier.

“Um, hello.”

A voice called out to her, startling her a little and there was a woman with black hair wrapped in a messy bun called out to her with a shy voice. She looked at her, trying to say something, but could not find the words in her mouth and just bowed to her instead.

Damn it, is this what this is like when in the presence of superstars?

“I am Cindy, the leader of this group,” the woman still introduced herself even though Bethany already knows about her. “I was just wondering about earlier, but you had your eyes glued on our CEO earlier.”

Her eyes widened at the revelation dropped to her. Was it that obvious?

“I was just wondering… what can you tell us about him?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Maggie, the blonde woman joined their conversation, scooching beside her leader. “Cindy here kind of likes our CEO, so she wanted to know more about him.”

Bethany lightly chuckled, shaking her head at them, shutting them down already of their fantasies. “Well, the first thing is that he currently has a girlfriend, you know.”

The other members heard what she said and proceeded to pat their leader’s back, nodding at them, and having a jokingly comforting expression etched on their faces.

“It is all right, Cindy. You knew that you have no chance on him anyway.”

“Of course, I am well aware of that one!” Their leader flashed a glare to every member of her group then followed with a playful chuckle, then focusing on Bethany who was smiling with them. “I just saw you have your eyes really focused on him earlier. I can’t help but think that you are our CEO’s girlfriend.”

Bethany gasped, feeling that she was already blushing then waved her hand in a rapid manner, denying the assumption of Cindy and her voice involuntarily raising on her. “No, I don’t like him at all, you know. I kind of just… know him because we went to the same school together.”

Cindy and the others had an interesting look on their faces and slammed the table in front of them, expressing a curious look to Bethany.

“Well then, tell us more about him!” Maggie demanded, wanting to hear all about her story when she was young, and a foolish teenager compared to who she is now. For some reason, Bethany sensed a familiarity while talking to the younger women with her. She completely forgot that despite them being established as idols in their faces, they still cannot hide the fact that they wanted to have a love different from the fans and the company had been given to them.

It was as if they were back in their high school days, talking about a guy that had coincidentally been what they all liked.

When she was about to get ready and tell her story, the door opened and there was Kevin entering the room, sending the whole group groaning, throwing their backs to the couch, forgetting for one second that they were in the presence of their boss.

“Um, would you like me to go out for a while then?” He noticed that they were in the middle of talking, presenting himself to exit the room for a while longer. Bethany saw this chance as an opportunity to escape the pending discussion about him, grabbing her laptop and walked away from them with a grin on her face.

“No, not at all,” she interjected the boss, looking back at the group. “The discussion is already over, isn’t it?”

“But you have to keep it a secret, all right?” Cindy accidentally blurted her question out loud, then realized that Kevin was there. She immediately covered her face in embarrassment as soon as their eyes came to cross.

“I will keep it don’t worry,” Bethany winked at her, confusing Kevin even more.

“What is going to be a secret?”

“It is nothing, move your ass already,” the secretary opened the door, pushing the boss outside. When they were in the hallway, they had their pace returned to normal, the rising adrenaline already going down.

“So, what is with –”

Before he could even open the topic once again, Bethany already shushed her boss down, dropping the formalities on him for a second time today. “You don’t have to know. It is a secret between women. By the way, you told us that you are getting a new producer. Where the hell are you getting one?”

Kevin smirked, grabbing his phone out and waving the contact details of the person he was talking about to Bethany. “An old friend of mine. I hope that he won’t kick me out as soon as he will see my face.”

“This is him already?” Bethany had her voice slightly raised at the picture of the producer that was mentioned by Kevin earlier, the one that they were going to know. It is her former schoolmate as well and a close friend of the CEO, Napoleon Schmeichel. She knows him because every time she checks out Kevin, he is always with a friend wearing a huge pair of headphones and almost shouting whenever he is in the hallway.

It was huge and delightful news to her that he was doing already all right, and finally ditching the headphones that seemed to have been stuck with him until he slept.

“Yes, that is him, all right,” Kevin proudly replied, pointing at the picture in his phone. “I think our batchmates will be really surprised if they ever saw him glow like this. It is unexpected, even from me.”

Like he has anything left to glow, Bethany thought and rolled her eyes. She took another look at the photo and saw him in a tank top with chiseled muscles that had sweat racing on his skin like they were raindrops while he was wearing air pods, doing his routine. His appearance is different from what he was before: thin, short, and like she already thought, the headphones.

“I mean, they will be, surely. Are you guys preparing for a grand meet-up with the others?”

“I’d rather not have that,” Kevin shut down the thought running in her mind, shaking it off with soft laughter. “I am pretty sure that most of the people in our batch will compare their riches and have snarky remarks to the others.”

“Just the way that some of us have been, huh?”

“And I am sure that they will do the same, their attitudes… are not the ones who are to be idolized or looked up to, anyway.”

Bethany understood everything that he said to her, nodding off in agreement. Even though she is not a popular girl in her days, she can remember the hearsay of the top students before, the ones whom Kevin is sitting on the top with.

They were all ruthless, not caring about anybody but themselves, and could not even bear to group themselves with other people whom they considered lower than them. What a childish way of wanting to stay on top and failing to have applied their lessons to them; except for Kevin who seemed to have humility and was open enough for them whenever he approached the others.

Maybe that is why she liked him that much back then.

Bethany then realized what she was thinking and shook her head off, sighing hard. She did not realize that they were already outside the parking space of the building, and Kevin noticed that she was shaking her head from reminiscing about the past, wondering what was wrong with her.

Don’t fantasize about someone who has a lover already, damn it! She thought to herself.

“Are you all right?” Kevin asked her, checking if she was still doing fine. “We are already outside of the building; you can now go home and take some rest.”

She shook her head, holding the unlocked door of his car and hopping beside the driver’s seat. “I will be fine. Besides, I want to meet some of my previous batchmates. Not just you and Amy that I can always see in the office.”

“Does that mean you don’t want to see us anymore?” Kevin asked her with a chuckle, half-joking about what she said to him. When they were together in the car, both of them felt an awkward atmosphere, making them not know where to look and not able to speak all of a sudden.

Kevin cleared his throat, looking at Bethany and starting the engine. “I will start driving now. Time is gold for that man, anyway.”

His hand touched the back of Bethany’s seat, and her heart skipped a beat. She does not know what the reason is for the sudden gesture that made her feel flustered, but she could feel the warmth of the man’s hand beside her while he is looking backward, making his car move from its parking space.

Bethany looked at his side profile, looking more mature and attractive. It was as if he did not age a single year. She felt that the tension inside her was becoming stronger, but her senses kicked in that Kevin was already loving someone else whom he deemed better than her.

“Where is Gwen by the way?” She asked him, breaking the tension inside her, but could feel the pain being inflicted on herself. The car was already backed up, and Kevin suddenly stopped talking, unable to find the words, and only gaped his mouth open. She could also hear his breathing getting ragged, but with one or two deep breaths, he became composed again.

“Gwen is… doing fine, she is just having time with her friends, that is all.”

Bethany had a concerned look while glancing over at the CEO. She wanted to know more about what happened to them, but she knew what her limits were. Today, she is nothing more than his secretary.

She also intended on shutting her feelings away from Kevin which she wants to keep.

Half an hour later without talking and just letting the engine hum, they finally reached a small studio they knocked on the door, which was answered by a tall, bulky man wearing headphones that greeted them with a smirk. The man noticed Bethany’s presence and he extended a hand to her as a greeting.

“My name’s Napoleon. Nice meeting you, lady.”