Chapter 16
The following morning, she woke up to several notifications on her phone, all from Kylan's Litter account. Her initial thought was that Kylan had deviated from the contract again and had gotten into yet another online argument Before die could overthink it any more than her mind was already doing. how many norifications Kylan hart
she opened the app.
fer eyes widened when she saw
Two hundred.
She clicked the first notification, surprised as hell to see a picture of her and Kylan from yesterday. It was from when her forehead rested against his, as she sheltered from the rain after dinner. Kylan had mentioned she had an audience, but it still caught
caught her off guard t topanost comments, pleased to see the response was still positive,
In see a picture like this one, circulating the internet. She
rrest the
She wondered if she would ever get used to seeing pictures of her and Kylan together, but if the response continued to be from mostly supportive people, she could deal with it
Pulling back her duvet, she yawned and stretched her arms over her head. She climbed out of bed, making it quickly, just av her phone rang in her hand.
She already knew it would be Kylan, and so she answered it while walking to her bathroom to take a shower.
"Good morning, Sir," she greeted her boss, placing the phone on speaker and setting it on the vanity. She stripped her shirt off, tossing it in the hamper at the corner of the room.
"Did you find a new coffee shop?" Kylan asked, his voice echoing annoyance already.
She sighed and shimmied out of her shorts and underwear. "I have your tea figured out, Sir" she responded, walking to her shower, and turning on the water. "I need to take a shower now. Did you have anything else you needed from me?"
She walked to her phone and stared down at Kylan's contact picture. It was the same one that was on his Ross Corp. bio. He wasn't smiling, but he didn't look entirely grumpy either. A far cry from what she knew he would look like in the time leading up to her date that night.
"Just don't fuck up the tea, Kylan grumbled into his phone.
She rolled her eyes down at his picture. "I have it covered. Sir. I'll see you soon. She hung up the phone and stepped into the shower.
Twenty minutes later, she was properly put together and ready to head down and meet Oscar. She grabbed her briefcase and locked her front door. choosing to take the elevator today.
Oscar was waiting for her outside, just as he always was. She smiled brightly at him when he opened the car door for her..
"Did you find everything on the list I gave you?" she asked him, sliding into the back seat.
She watched Oscar walk around the car and then take his place back in the driver's seat. "They didn't have the exact blend you wanted, but they had one similar. However, I did find the teapot you wanted. He glanced behind his shoulder to make sure the street was clear for him to pull onto, and then they were on their way to work.
"It should be fine. I don't know how he'll react to me making him his tea, truthfully. But I know I can't lie about it, either. He usually asks me the name of the shop I got it from if it's a new one." She bit the inside of her cheek, now questioning her choice to forego finding a new coffee shop, in favor of making the tea herself.
Her boss was picky about all things, but especially his tea. She couldn't get this all wrong.
someone like Mr. Ross, it's you. I have full
Oscar smiled at her in the rearview mirror. "If anyone is capable of steeping the perfect cup of tea for som confidence in you, Kate," he told her kindly,
She smiled back at him, some of her anxiety fading a little bit. "What would I do without you, Oscar?" she mused fondly,
Her
driver smiled at her once more, and she could only hope that he was right about the damn cup of tea she would be making her boss. -0-0-0-
Katrina reached the office, and Oscar explained where he had put
at all the tea-making supplies inside the br nervous for doing something simple, like making a cup of damn tea
the break room. She headed upstairs. far too
She dropped her briefcase and coat off in her office, and then she finally forced herself to walk to got her for Kylan's cup of tea.
o the b
break room and fish out the supplies OscarRêAd lat𝙚St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only
She only had seven minutes until Kylan would be expecting her in his office. She needed to work quickly, and there was no room for any error to 1:00 PM I 0
Opening the silver rin filled to the brim with black tea leaves, she began the process, doing her best not to overthink each step as she reached it
Exactly five minutes later, she had steeped what she hoped was a perfect cup of tea. She hadict added a drop of honey, or just the way Kylan preferred his morning beverage.
ngle grain of
rain of sugar.
Instead of the usual Styrofisam cup that Kylai's tra usually came in, she had Oscar pick out an expensive, hopefully classy, rea set
She carefully picked up the cup of tea and walked far too slowly down the hallway to Kylan's offer. She silently curved herself for wearing heels. balancing the tea precariously in her hands and holding onto hope that she wouldn't drop the damn cups te his desk, depositing the tra in ins
Somehow, she made it to Kylan's office without losing a single bit of the liquid in the cup. She walked over in place, and then she sat in her chair and adjusted the hem of her skirt.
Kylan was on a phone call, staring out his office window, his free hand in the pocket of his grey darks. She decided in open the calendar on her tablet, getting a head start on learning the schedule for the day.
She heard Kylan ending his phone call and came to sit down at his desk.
"The F*ck is this shit?" he asked her in disgust
She was prepared for this reaction. After all, Kylan didn't exactly devine from his usual routine very easily, if at all. "Black tea, sir, Steeped exactly the way you like it she responded calmly.
"Where did you get this cup? Did you make this, Katrina?" He bent his head down, inspecting the cup of tea with a scowl on his face.
She cleared her throat and forced herself to sit up straighter in her chair. "I did. Sir, I would encourage you to try it before you throw it in the garbage." She crossed her left leg over her right one and watched him with a neutral expression faxed carefully on her face Kylan narrowed his eyes at her. "If this is shit, you'll have to remake it until it's right." He quirked a brow at her.
She nodded and clasped her hands atop her crossed legs. "I've been getting your tea for three years, Sir. I've learned a thing or two about how you want it made," she said with false bravado. Truthfully, she was scared shitless. While she had learned about his likes and dislikes, it was different when she was the one making him the cup of tea
Kylan clicked his tongue, reaching forward and picking up the teacup by the brim. He kept his gaze on hers, raising the cup to his lips and taking a surprisingly long drink from it. He put the cup back down on his desk and continued to stare at her, not saying anything. She didn't move her eyes away from his and hardly even allowed herself to blink. Her heart was thundering in her chest, and she knew she should feel silly for being nervous about something that should have been mundane
Even still, this felt like an oddly big moment for her as Kylan's assistant, and she couldn't shake the ridiculous nerves away.
Kylan shifted in his seat, turning to click his computer to life. "Schedule?" he asked her evenly.
She blinked a few times. Was he not going to tell her what he thought of the tea! Was this his way of telling her? Surely if he hated it, he would have said something? Kylan was never going to be the kind of man to dance around whatever he deemed to be the truth, regardless of if it hurt someone's feelings or not
She swallowed and opened Kylan's schedule on the tablet in her lap. "Um. Right. Okay. Well, you have a conference call at ten o'clock, to discuss the final cosmetic design of the Nightfall. Then, you need to go get fitted for her new suit. That's at, she glanced at the calendar, "twelve-thirty. After that, you have an hour for lunch, and then you have a meeting with the police commissioner. I assume he wants to discuss the new contract we sent over last week. My guess is, he'll have a few addendums to add to it
She scrolled down the schedule, tucking a piece of fallen hair behind her ear. "I didn't schedule any other afternoon meetings, in favor of being able to go home and get ready for our date," she finished, locking the screen of the tablet to now stare at Kylan instead. "Right. Our date. The baseball game. Kylan did nothing to hide his disdain.
"So far, Sir, our relationship is being received incredibly well by the general population. I really do think this game can only help further what we've already started. If it's a matter of physical affection 1-" She was cut off by kylan flashing her an especially angry scowl. "I already told you, Katrina, Plysical affection in Lan issue. Kissing is different, but we've already discussed that, I simply don't want to go to a
adam filled with thousands of inchriated and disgusting individuals," Kylan reminded her, pinching the bridge of his nose
"I understand, Sir. It might help to try and keep the bigger picture in mind, though, she suggested with a half-hearted smile. "In any case. I have a few emails to respond to, before your first conference call. If there's nothing else you need me for right now, I'll go ahead and take care of those " She stood from her chair and clutched the tablet to her chest
Kylan sighed and nodded. "Go finish your dam emails, he grumbled, waving his hand toward the door to his other
She nodded and tumed to leave, opening the door to his office.
1:00 PM dd.
"Katrina" she heard Kylan say, just as she was in the hallway. She turned back around and looked at him, cocking her head to the side curiously,
Kylan shifted in his seat, looking highly uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and stared down at the cup On
his desk
"The tea it's" He cleared his throat again, and she could have sworn a faint blush dusted his cheeks. "The tea is acceptable," he said through what appeared to be clenched teeth..
She knew it was as close to a thank you as she would get from a man like her boss, and she smiled. "I'm glad you think so. Shall I plan on making you a cup tomorrow as well then, Sir?" she asked as calmly as she could, even though she was way too relieved that Kylan had approved of the tea. Kylan grunted in response "Fine," he said briskly.
She smiled again and nodded. before turning and practically skipping to her desk.