51 - GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY

“Replace me with Janine!”

“No” his reply was cold and calculated. It was just the both of us in his office, just after the meeting had ended and I trailed behind him to his office while every other person dispersed to their various cubicles in hushed silence. He sat on his chair, arms folded and stared at me with an amused expression – I was livid well not exactly livid but something close.

“What do you mean no?” I shot at him and he shrugged

“This is my company and I’ll appoint whomever I deem fit for any task, you won’t tell me what to do Aria Thorne just because we've had history” he shot back at me with a serious expression on his face

“I-m not – I’m just – just pick her instead she’s dying for an opportunity like this” I said instead but Kyle still bore that smirk and now he unfolded his arms and leaned forward on the table.

“Do you know how important the banquet dinner is? How prestigious it is? It is graced by the top 1% percent of the corporate world. You have an opportunity to level up yourself, do you really want to give that up because you’re on a personal vendetta to avoid me”

I gasped, my mouth nearly falling open but barely managing to keep my face neutral. I shot him a death stare instead.

“I’m not trying to avoid you Kyle – it’s called boundaries. I’m sure that’s a foreign word to you” I said and Kyle stood up with a slow smile on his face and was moving towards, and when he got to me he grabbed me by my arm and pulled me towards him with a force I wasn’t expecting. Now, my body was barely touching and almost pressing up on him, while my feet wobbled in my heels.

I gulped, my lungs hitching a breath

“You have a smart mouth” he said to me, his bruised face close to mine and inhaling each other’s exhale. I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out, and it was just me held in his clutc with the nervous feeling building at the pit of my stomach.

“I picked you for a reason, I want to see you rise to your full potential” his mouth moved to my neck but his lips barely grazed my skin, I could feel his breath hovering above and the hairs on my skin stood sharp like a needle ready to prick and draw blood from it’s prey.

“Shawn’s not going to like that” I managed and Kyle scoffed.

“Who cares what he likes or not? This is your life Aria, your career and the golden opportunity to shoot yourself up which I’m offering to you on a gold platter why would you want to throw that away because of – Shawn?” he said with Shawn’s name rolling off his tongue like it was sour fruit. He turned to look at me, his eyes – those eyes fixed on me and he continued

“Except – except there’s some other reason which you’re not telling me”

I was sick of this tension between, my heart thumped with anxiety and my body itched to close the space between us but each time the engagement ring on my finger glinted in my side eye and stomach lurched with guilt – how much further was this going on? How long more do I have to endure this dirty temptation? Why was it so near damn impossible to avoid him?

“There’s no other reason – can you just let me go?” I didn't want him to let me go

There was a pause as his hands lingered over my skin for a second and a tingling sensation running through my entire body before he let go of me and I staggered back a bit in a bid to steady myself.

“So what do you say? Do I replace you with Janine?” it was a calculated question but I couldn’t help but think that he was right, why would I throw away this opportunity when the only thing I had to do was to be strictly professional with him – Lord please!

“No” I muttered quietly.

“I can’t hear you – louder”

I glared at him

“No” I said louder this time and he nodded with a satisfied smile then he walked back to his chair.

“Good girl” he said with the words rolling of his tongue so smooth that I felt butterflies in my stomach and I had the innate urge to smack them dead with the back of heels.

“Now that we have that established, we’ll move on to the first order business – the hall” Kyle said while he gestured me to sit on the chair opposite and I did so leaning forward with my hands placed on his brow oaken table.

“The Lexington pillar building”

I chuckled “That’s rich, that is like the most sough after event center in whole of LA, there’s like a long waiting list”

“And we’re going to look for a way to get in and in record time” he said

“How – ”

“Make some calls, find the people that are for scheduled for the day of the banquet dinner and sabotage them – just joking”

He wasn’t but he played it off with a smile, I knew Kyle liked to play dirty but the problem was I just didn’t know how dirty and I was surprised he found me as willing accomplice.

“Meet me back here tonight – ” immediately he saw the odd look I was throwing in his direction and he stopped

“Strictly professional” he added not breaking my stare
***
Later that evening after I had closed from work, I needed to get back home for a breather before I joined Kyle back in the officer to sort through the list of people that had booked Lexington Hall the same day of the banquet dinner. I had made the silent resolutions to myself to curb the silly attraction I bore for him. Kyle was right, I needed this opportuntity and all I had to was to be professional.
I walked through the door of the house to find Shawn seated in the living room, phone in hand and looking like he was waiting for me. It was hard to decipher the look on his face but he had his jaw fixed, Shawn hardly had his jaw fixed.

“Hey honey” I greeted cheerfully, as I dropped my bag on the counter and walked back to the living room where he sat.

“You won’t believe it, K&H is hosting this year’s banquet dinner and trust me I never knew what that was until today but according to Janine it is the event of the century in the corporate world and guess what I get to plan it – ”

“I want you to quit your job” he suddenly cut me off. It didn't sound like a request not with that look on his face.