Chapter 30

KATE.
I brushed my hair slowly, tiredly, arranging the strands around my face.
I couldn't say I was happy about the way things had gone last night, but I couldn't put all the blame on Drew. It was partly my fault too. Now that I thought about it, I might have over reacted a tad too much. He hadn't done anything downright bad in talking to his ex in front of me, it was just his treating me like I was a secret that made me feel bad. But it didn't warrant the way I'd flipped at him.
And how I'd left before he came back. It was childish as hell, I should have just stayed and talked it out, not run. But at the time, I couldn't think past that. I had been hurt and no amount of reasoning would have changed my mind.
I needed to talk to him. I needed to apologize for acting so rash. Drew was struggling to adapt too. This was his first real relationship and he was trying to do this and not fail. He was bound to make mistakes as he went. He wasn't perfect and I had to accept him as the flawed person he was. Not yell at him and run away every single mistake he made. He deserved so much better than the way I was treating him.
I dropped my brush back on top of the dresser and stared at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes had slight bags under them from my lack of sleep last night. How could I sleep when my mind had been occupied with Drew? I couldn't stop wondering how he must be feeling after I had just left like that.
He called me several times last night but I didn't pick any of his calls, because I didn't want to talk to him at the time. Now, I felt downright bad. I contemplated calling him and apologizing to him, but I wanted to do it in person. There was nothing like a good ol' face-to-face talk.
I snagged my hand bag from my bed and walked out of the apartment, locking the door and placing the key in my bag. I took the elevator downstairs, waving at my doorman as I left the building.
I dragged down a cab and got in, leaning my head on the seat. I looked up and took a breath of fresh air when I stood in front of the Rutledge Towers building. I was back at work after such a long time.
I stepped into the building, inhaling the crisp scent of work. There was no feeling in the whole world like stepping into this building. It filled you with hope and a whole lot new possibilities for life.
I waved at the receptionist, who looked genuinely happy to see me back here, and took the elevator to my floor. Tired eyes looked back at me from the walls of the elevator.
I walked into my office, without really paying much attention to my coworkers who were congratulating me on my speedy recovery.
"Oh my God, Kate. " June hugged me, "You look so good. " she pulled away, assessing me, "Pretty good for someone who just got out of an accident. " her eyes widened, "Sorry, I can't keep words from coming out of my mouth, lately. "
I chuckled lightly, "It's okay. And I got out of that accident two weeks ago. "
"Still. You look good. " she smiled cheekily.
"Thanks anyway. " I angled my head towards Sue's office, "Is Sue back in? "
"Oh, yeah. She came in this morning. " she whispered, like she was letting me in on a big secret.
"Okay. Well, I'd better go. " as I moved to walk away, I remembered I'd wanted to check in with her on Giovanni. "How are things with Giovanni? "
"Pretty good, thanks. He's been really loving this my no filter thing. " she blushed, "It's been getting me in so much trouble. "
So Giovanni was into kinky stuff. I smiled, "I can tell you love it though. "
She beamed from ear to ear, nodding her head.
I continued my walk to the office, stopping at Sue's door to check up on her before I went into mine. I knocked on the door.
"Yes? "
I pushed the door open and stuck my head in. "Hey, Sue. "
She looked up when she was it was me, "Kate! How are you? " she got up from her chair, walking towards me.
"I'm doing great, Sue. How about you? " I walked inside, giving her a hug.
"I'm glowing. " she smiled, "I didn't know you were coming in today. "
I shrugged, "Yeah, well. I figured I'd come sooner rather than later. "
"I'm pretty sure it's more of you missing work, you workaholic. "
"True. " I smiled, walking backwards, "I'll be in my office. "
"Yeah, I'll call you when I need you. " she called in a sing song voice.
I unlocked my office door and pushed it open. The smell of flowers I'd used to decorate it and hardwood welcomed me. Damn, I'd missed this place.
I worked for the next two hours straight up, catching up on all I'd missed. And it felt relaxing. Like I had just gotten something I had been missing. Once in a while my thoughts drifted to Drew, but I pushed it away to focus solely on work. I hadn't been here in a while and I couldn't afford to be distracted when I had only just comeh here.
There was a sudden commotion outside the office. I remained seated hoping it would die down, but when the voices just kept getting louder, I knew I had to check what all the ruckus was about.
When I got out, I saw I wasn't the only one who had stepped out to witness it. June, some other coworkers, and Mrs. Sue –all from my floor, were also watching the interaction, which happened to be between two fellow coworkers who were having a heated argument.
June's eyes brightened when she caught me coming out, "You're going to want to listen to this. "
I cocked my brow at her, about to ask what the hell was happening when Sue beat me to it.
"What the hell is happening? " it was like she read my mind.
"Penelope broke up with Richard because she caught him cheating on her. " a girl explained in a voice no more than a whisper, "And Richard is not taking it well. "
Sue said nothing, just watched the apparently now ex couple, who hadn't even noticed her presence.
"I need you, Pen. " Richard said.
"Guess you should have thought about that before you decided go stick your dick in somebody else's vagina. " she replied crossly.
Jesus. They definitely didn't want people to hear this conversation. It was inappropriate as hell, not to mention they shouldn't even be having it in work premises. What made it worse was the fact that they didn't know Sue was here.
"And who's fault is that? " she shouted back, sending spittle flying. I shifted, just incase some happened to land in my direction. "You refused to sleep with me for four nights. "
"Because I suspected your Viagra taking ass was fucking someone else. And what do you know? I was right. "
This was juicy stuff. But at the same time, pretty reckless. If they didn't get fired after this, they should thank their stars.
I glanced at Sue, observing her for any traces of emotion, but there was none. I was used to that, that was her work face. I didn't have to guess to know she was calculating right now.
"Viagra? You know you love –"
"Uh, guys. " someone said, clearing their throat.
They both looked at the intruder at the same time, "What? "
The intruder, whom I found out was a young man, jerked his head in our direction –that meant Sue's. Two pairs eyes came to land on us slowly, and immediately they did, the blood drained from their faces.
"I..... Mrs Sue, we're –" Penelope spoke up since Richard still hadn't left his state of shock.
"Both of you. My office. Now. " she snapped, spinning on her heels and entering her office. Penelope followed behind her, but she stopped short when she realized Richard wasn't following.
"Wake the fuck up, asshole. " she hissed, snapping her fingers in front of his eyes.
He jerked, glaring at her, before walking behind her into Sue's office. They couldn't meet our eyes as they passed, keeping their gazes firm on the ground.
I blew out a breath, going back into my office. Who didn't need drama to lighten up their day?
I glanced at the time, saw it was still at twelve. I couldn't wait to leave the office so I could meet Drew at his penthouse and apologize. It didn't sit well with me that we were not on good terms and I was constantly feeling guilty. So instead of dwelling on the guilt, I focused on the apology.
I couldn't wait to meet my man.
DREW.
My feet bounced restlessly under the table all through the meeting I was currently in. It just couldn't end quickly enough.
I needed to get out of here and see Kate. Apologize for walking out on her during that conversation yesterday. Well, technically I hadn't really walked out on her, but that's what it must have been like to her.
As soon as we adjourned the meeting, I rushed to my office to drop off my laptop and notepad. I dusted off imaginary dirt off my suit and pushed the door open to leave when someone stepped in, causing me to move back.
It was Michael. My brows furrowed in confusion. I wasn't expecting him today, so what was he doing here unannounced?
"What are you doing here? Is something wrong? "
"I called you several times but you didn't pick up. "
I frowned, trying to recollect where I might have left my phone. "Shit. I think I left it at home. "
He walked past me, placing a flat file on my desk. He looked serious so I knew whatever this was, had to be important. I joined him, standing next to him and looked on patiently as he brought papers out from the file.
"What's this? " I gestured towards them.
"This is some serious shit, Drew. " he picked one in particular out and gave it to me.
I glanced at it blankly, without really paying much attention to what I was seeing until I came across a name, Tom Rutledge.
"My dad? " I asked, giving him a sharp look. He nodded, his mouth in a grim line. I turned back to the paper again, reading carefully. And when I was done, I couldn't believe my luck.
My dad was into drug trafficking. No wonder he spent the amount of money he did. He was former CEO of the company and now that he was gone, he didn't get anything from it. Not a dime. So it often baffled me whenever I saw his expenses. Because I did, it wasn't that hard. My dad wasn't that smart. But apparently, he was smart enough to traffick drugs without us knowing.
How fortunate was I to come across this delicious piece of information?
"I thought you'd be pissed. What the fuck are you smiling for? " he asked, eyeing me curiously.
"Because I just hit Jack fucking pot, Micheal. " I grinned.
A man shouldn't feel so happy to witness his father's downfall, but I did. Mostly because, he wasn't a father to me. Not since I was born. I'd rather be a bastard than accept that that vile man was my father. Never.
"I would be lying if I say you don't confuse me, Drew. "
"Well, I'm one misunderstood man. " I said absently, my mind briefly wandering to Kate. Kate. Fuck. I needed to see her. "Thank you for this piece of information, Mike. I'm grateful. " I said, arranging the papers back into the file and keeping it in my locker.
"What are you going to do about it? "
"That's up to me now. " I murmured, already walking out the door. He shook his head, waking out and closing my office door.
We took the elevator together, but we didn't utter one word, because you never could tell. If my dad could have found out about Kate going to that gig and sent people after her, then he could have someone spying on me.
"See you whenever. " he said when I stopped at Kate's floor.
I gave him a mock salute and kept a blank face as I passed several shocked employees. They should be over this by now. This wasn't the first time I had come to this floor to see Kate, neither would it be the last.
I knocked on her door, waiting for her to answer.
"Come in. " she called in her smoky voice.
I entered, closing the door behind me. She still hasn't looked up from what she was doing, so I remained by my post at the door, waiting for her to notice me.
"Have a seat. I'm pretty busy right now, so I apologize in advance, this is going to be –" she paused when she looked up and saw it was me. "Drew? What are you doing here? "
My heart paused, then galloped wildly. Was she not okay with me being here? "I wanted to see you. " I tilted my chin at the computer in front of her, "You're busy? I could come back later. "
She glanced at it as if she had forgotten it was there, then shifted it slightly, "No, I'm good. You can stay. "
I walked towards the chair as if I was going to sit in it. But I walked past it to her. I turned her chair to face me, then I dropped to my haunches in front of her. I took her hands in mine.
"How are you? "
She blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice. "You're asking how I am? "
"Yes, I want to know. " Okay, that wasn't what I'd wanted to say, but I decided to not just offload on her at once. I had to go step by step.
"Well, in that case. I'm good. "she eyed me strangely.
"And work? "
"Good. Normal. " she huffed, "To be honest, I thought coming back here would feel weird. Sort of. I don't know. It was slightly alien at first, but after a while, I got my mojo back. " she rambled on in obvious excitement. "You know like how you haven't ridden a bike in so long and when you do, you think you'll fall down, but your body already knows what to do. Sort of like that. "
"Yeah. " I looked at this girl. Really looked. And I didn't know how I had thought that she was anything like her father. She was so different from him and I was glad he hadn't tainted her.
I felt a sudden urge to have her in my arms. And it was so fucking undeniable, there was nothing I could do. I picked her up and her hands immediately went to wrap around my neck. It was amazing how we were already working in sync.
I carried her to her couch and sat on it, before dropping her on my lap. As much as I liked her being under me, I also liked her being on top. I didn't understand why, I just liked to see her face and that angelic hair above mine, watching me with those magnificent greys.
"Drew, we need to talk. "
My breath caught in my throat, and I had to force myself to calm down. That's what I wanted anyway, wasn't it? To talk. But why did I suddenly feel so scared? Because a big part of me thought she was finally done with my baggage and she wanted to call this off.
"I –"
"No. Listen to me, Drew. " she cut me off by placing her hands on my face, cupping my jaw. "I'm sorry for how I reacted yesterday. I had no right to be mad at you for talking to your ex. " I fought the urge to correct her that Emily wasn't my ex, but I didn't want to interrupt her. I couldn't even find my fucking voice.
She was apologizing? This was backwards. I knew I would have thrown a fucking fit, had it been me in her shoes, because just the mention of her ex boyfriends took me to a dark place.
"You should be able to whatever you want, I can't control you. And it was inconsiderate of me to have left like that yesterday before you could even come back. I wasn't thinking properly at the time. And I'm sorry. " she glanced back and forth between my eyes, with something akin to fear in hers, "Do you forgive me? "
I felt something powerful moving inside my body, crawling upwards with startling force. My chest suddenly felt too tight to contain the erratic beating of my heart. Fuck my life. I was in love with Kate Rossi. Head over hell, madly, whatever word to use. I was fucking in love with her. There was no other word to describe this feeling. I felt it yesterday but I couldn't put a name to it. Now I knew what it was. I was in love.
I fought the strong urge to just blurt it out, and instead focused on what I wanted to tell her. Even if I was reeling.
"you should'nt be apologizing, Kate. This is on me. Fuck, if it was your ex talking to you with me there yesterday, Kate, I don't know what I would have done. So, I'm sorry, Kate. " I angled my head, smiling slightly, "Forgive me? "
She laughed, "I forgive you, Drew. But please, stop treating me like I'm some secret. It hurts. "
"Settled. " I gripped my chin and tugged her towards me, "Now, fucking kiss me. "
Her hands went to the back of my head, holding me in place as she pressed her soft lips to mine. I closed my eyes, feeling a rush of peace flood my soul. This was what I'd needed yesterday. It was a day late, but it was everything to me.
I wrapped my hands around her waist, pulling her closer, wanting our bodies to mold into one, because she wasn't close enough. She ground into me and my dick shot hard. That was all it took with Kate. She controlled me just like that. I was at her mercy.
She trailed kisses down my jawline, making a shiver run through me. She dropped her lips to my neck and I tilted my head back, giving her what she wanted. It was oddly arousing to have her in control like this. Something I'd never done and never thought I'd like.
She sucked on my neck. Hard enough to leave a hickey. And when my eyes met her amused one, I knew that was what she wanted. To mark me. And fuck, it was sexy as hell.
"Your place tonight? " she asked, running her hands through my hair.
My heart raced. Was it what I was thinking? But even if it wasn't, I didn't care. What mattered was that she was coming.
"My place. "