Chapter Forty Two
KATHERINE
When Damien drunkenly staggered into the shower, banging the door and cutting her off, Katherine stood outside the bathroom, fuming.
It was bad enough that he had ignored all her questions, but now he had to deliberately cut her off as well? Oh what nonsense! Katherine couldn’t have that.
She just couldn’t deal with it, but now she knew exactly what she had to do.
She had been beyond confused when she saw him drinking so early this morning. It wasn’t like him at all, hence the surprise that filled her, but then she caught a whiff of what the matter bothering him was about.
He had muttered some gibberish about a flash drive, and then when he called his ex’s name, she had become so angry that her hands began to shake.
After everything she had discussed with him, everything she had done to try and make him forget about the unruly bitch, it seemed like he still hadn’t had enough. Now he was mentioning her name in his drunken state.
Oh well!
Katherine shut her eyes as though she were in physical pain.
She was itching so badly, her body scratching her as she wanted to know everything. She needed to know, and that flash drive he had kept on talking about… that flash drive that he kept going on about, she knew it must have had some information for Damien to keep talking about it that way. So she knew she had to find it.
The bedroom seemed like a good start since he was in the shower, and so she would start her search from there. Besides, he would probably be too drunk to notice, and so she got to work.
After she had spent minutes ransacking his bedroom and his study, overturning every single nook and cranny she still didn’t find anything, and she became frustrated.
“Fuck.” Katherine muttered under her breath as she popped the last drawer open, trying to hold onto one last hope but there was still no sign of a flash drive anywhere.
The only other possible place the flash drive could be was in his office at work, in his laptop maybe and cursing under her breath, Katherine made her way to the bedroom, grabbing her bag and stuffs and quickly left.
She wasn’t worried about Damien knowing she had gone. He was too drunk for that.
Quickly, she went back to one of his rooms to freshen up and get ready to go out. She would find out what exactly was on that flash drive, and even if it meant she had to cross some boundaries, then she would do that.
A few hours later, Katherine walked through the halls of Damien’s company building, a smile plastered on her face.
She knew that the key to avoid suspicion was to act like she normally did, and again she knew that Damien would be absent from work today so it would make things a whole lot easier for her.
“Good morning, ma’am.” She heard Damien’s secretary greet her as she approached his office.
“Hello.” Katherine smiled widely at the lady who smiled back before facing her work. Katherine breathed out in relief, giving one last smile before she walked into his office.
Making sure the door was closed behind her, she began to search.
Ransacking each drawer compartment slowly and carefully in order not to miss the flash drive, she searched thoroughly and efficiently. After that she moved to his inner office, and then she began to check the desk, the drawers, every single place she could see but still, nothing.
She was beginning to get agitated, and holding back her anger, she retraced her steps, going back into the main office to search again.
As her eyes roved around the office, they landed on a laptop seated on the desk, and her brows quirked slowly. Looking more closely, Katherine discovered there was a flash drive attached to it, and a wide groan appeared on her face.
“Yes!” She squealed happily, fist bumping in the air as she raced across the room to the laptop.
Finally! She thought to herself, her hands shaking in anticipation as she turned the laptop on.
Smiling to herself and relieved that she knew Damien’s password already, she disconnected the flash drive and then plugged it back in again.
The drive appeared on the computer, and filled with suspense and curiosity, Katherine tapped on the drive and waited for it to load.
In a few seconds it was ready, and then she began to scroll through the files that was in it.
She saw a file named in capital letters ‘THE CONNORS’, and just when she was about to click it, the door swing open, and she froze.
For a split second, Katherine was panic stricken, but she knew that jumping up would only make her look guilty, so she casually looked up, nearly rolling her eyes abrasively when she saw it was Alvarez.
He stood at the entrance of the office, files in his hand and a suspicious look on his face as he glared at Katherine.
“What are you doing here?” He spat, eyeing her curiously, while she clenched her fists under the table.
This was not going to go down well for her, and she could already sense it.
Alvarez was her arch enemy, and the hate he had for her was actually mutual on her own end.
Lord knows if she had a choice right now, or a knife rather she would slice Alvarez into two clean halves, not thinking of the consequences but then she tried to control her anger.
She had never been able to tolerate him, bringing back the thought of how she hated him personally and everything that concerned his affairs. She didn’t think he was the kind of person Damien should be around with, especially at this time too.
She knew the connection he had with Madison too back then as they had all been friends, and he was obviously that bitch’s number one supporter. He was also just too damn nosy.
“I asked you a question miss.” Alvarez said again, his voice harsh, “What are you doing in Damien’s office with his laptop?”
It was all Katherine could do to keep from throwing him a sharp glare.
“I have every right to be in my boyfriend’s office. I don’t see why you’re making it your problem.” She said, trying her very best to keep all the venom she was feeling out of her voice.
“Yes you have every right to be here, but not when Damien isn’t here.” Alvarez shot back, “It looks kind of weird, and I also know Damien won’t send you in here without informing me. Strange if you ask me.” He added sarcastically, giving her a fake smile and the words that flew out of his mouth really stung Katherine, but she took some deep breaths, smiling and staring him down even when what she really wanted to do was slap that haughty smirk off his face.
As she and Alvarez stared at each other, she became angrier by the second, and he wasn’t even making any move to walk away.
Finally, giving up at the last second, she carefully shut the laptop, picking up her purse from the desk and without saying another word she made her way out of the room.
She could feel Alvarez’s glare piercing her back as she walked away, and her chest heaved with anger as she stormed out of the office.
She was more than furious… Her plan had been ruined!
…….
The sound of a ringtone jolted Damien awake, and this was a mistake because as soon as he jumped up from the bed, his already sore head began to ache even more terribly than when he had first fallen asleep.
Damien groaned in pain.
After the last hangover he’d had some time back, he had vowed not to drink so much anymore, here he was again, with a blurry memory and a splitting headache.
It also occurred to him that he had slept through the morning, hence missing his responsibilities at the office.NôvelDrama.Org © content.
He wasn’t bothered though because it was not like he couldn’t take a day off, as he was the boss after all, but still he didn’t like to leave work for lousy reasons such as a hangover. That was of his own doing, and he didn’t believe in his responsibilities suffering for his own mistake.
Sighing, he turned to his phone which had begun to ring a second time, and stretching out his hand to pick it up he saw that it was his mother calling.
Taking a few seconds to gather himself first, he picked up and greeted hoarsely, “Hello, Mom.”
“Damien? How are you doing?”
He shut his eyes for a few moments, weakness racking through him.
He just wanted to get some sleep.
“I’m fine, mom.”
The silence over the phone relayed his mother’s worry to him, and he knew she was waiting for him to say more, but he was just too tired to do anything.
With his free hand, he stretched toward the drawer, sliding it open and grabbed the bottle of aspirin he always kept there.
Supporting his phone with his shoulder to keep it from falling, he opened the bottle to take out some pills, chewing the butter drugs without any remorse.
“Are you okay? You sound sick.” His mother said again, this time sounding even more worried as she asked again, “Have you been taking care of yourself? And also have you been eating properly?”
“Yes, mom. I’m fine.” Damien said, raking his fingers in his hair as he drank some water. “I just came down with a cold, so I’m home for today, but I’ve already called the doctor and I’m feeling better.” He lied, knowing it was the only way to allay her fears.
Besides, he couldn’t possibly tell her he was having a hangover. That would morph into a whole new conversation, seeing the time he had gotten drunk, and he honestly didn’t have the time for that.
“So you’re good then?” His mother asked again, and when he confirmed it, she went on to ask about work, and about Katherine.
If Damien had been face to face with his mother, he would not have been able to hide his surprise, at her questions.
She never asked about Katherine. Unless of course she was just trying to be polite, so asking about her now was a bit daunting, strange and a tad bit awkward.
“She’s good.”
“Ah, I see.”
If Damien was more in the mood, he might have laughed at the way she sarcastically responded, but he was just not in the mood and even now he just wanted to get back to sleep.
So without talking to much, he just listened to his mother ask how he was faring, and if he had made up his mind about the dinner with her and his sister, and again just like he had said before, Damien informed her that he was busy.
“Fine.” After a pause she spoke up again, “I… I’ve been meaning to ask you something though son. Can I please go ahead?” She questioned and Damien lifted his brows before answering, “Yes do go on.”
“It’s about that girl in the papers, about Madison?”
Damien suddenly clutched his phone tighter, but he said nothing.
Even though he was quiet, his mother kept on talking as if she did not notice.
“Have you been able to sort everything out with her? I haven’t seen any new tabloid issues with you you both so I guessed it had all died down. Hope that is the case?”
Damien shut his eyes.
Madison… He had completely forgotten briefly about everything courtesy of his hangover and drunk brain, but as his mother spoke, his fingers clutched at the phone tightly, as memories began to flood in his head.
He vividly remembered how he was trying to get all the information he was getting out of his mind, but how? How was he supposed to unsee all of that? How was he supposed to just forget about it?
The pregnancy… That alone sent chills through his body, and worse still he wasn’t even sure yet who it belonged to.
Why did everything associated with Madison have to somehow creep into his mood and ruin his day, his thoughts.
She had fucking carried a baby. A baby that was most likely still somewhere. The thought made him so angry. A baby that could most likely be his, despite the allegations and scandal that made them break up back then and…
He didn’t even want to think about all that right now.
“Honey are you there?” His mother’s voice cut into his thoughts, “Did you manage to sort everything out with Madison? You’ve not said a thing.”
Oh fuck! But he just wanted to scream his lungs out, and suddenly he had the urge to throw his phone across at the wall.
“Mom, can you please not prod further about Madison’s issue. I really don’t want to talk about this…” He stated gently, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.
“Damien, I know you and Madison were-”
“I’m fine! Okay? Stop asking me all of these freaking questions.” He snapped, “I have to go now.”
Without even waiting for her to speak, or exchanging any farewell pleasantries he hung up on her, tossing his phone into the dresser and burying his head in his pillow to try and get rid of the thoughts.