Love and Money

Chapter Four

Katie's POV

I was finally done with the project , I made up my mind to take myself out for a treat after one week of working extra hours . I deserved it after ten hours a day of coding for the past six days . My team members had been very helpful but as a backend designer , I did the bulk of the work .

I'd gone to visit mum at the hospital and was glad to see her okay , her radiography sessions were successful so far but we still kept our fingers crossed since she had about thirty sessions more before we could be sure about about anything.

Mum was excited about my new job but I could also notice she avoided talking about her health,but she kept on asking me when I was getting married and kept on saying things like how she wanted to cradle her grandchildren before she died and how I wasn't getting any younger . Love wasn't on my agenda till I reached the peak of my career, something both of us never agreed on, to Mrs Emily McAvoy I was" too ambitious and that's not going to get you anywhere". Oh well.

I decided to go check on the company website to make sure everything was okay, bringing out my phone I checked and all I saw was " Error. Page not found"! This couldn't be possible! No freaking way! But. . . could I have made a mistake? Maybe a line ? But I'd been very careful! This wasn't good, the whole blame was solely on me . Even if I wanted to start all over , it was going to take me at least a week and today was the deadline! This had to be a dream right ?

I dialed Kelly's number immediately , Kelly always knew how to give great pep talk but right now she was at work in the hospital where she worked as an intern doctor.

" What's up Katie? Sort of busy over here" Kelly said . I didn't care if she was busy just as long she she was there for me to talk to.

" I'm in a tight spot over here" I chuckled faintly , twirling the tip of my hair.

" Say it already" she said curtly .

" Okay I f****d up big time on that redesign project. Babes I'm about to blow up right now, I can't even focus , I really wish this was a group error but it's all on me . I'm so dead plus mr hoity toity big shot CEO doesn't like me -"

" Shut up . Think calmly , what if you told him it's a mis-"

" Not Damian Ford , he won't buy that . I can swear my life on that" I sighed feeling hopeless

" Oh" was all she uttered and then began to make worrying sounds over the line.

Why was my life such a mess? Why was everything going the other way round, why did things have to be this bad ? Tears I had held back since the beginning of the year began to flow freely and I began to sob uncontrollably .

" I'm sorry Katie" Kelly said, I could hear her sniff . When could finally find my voice I said goodbye and hung up .

The next call I got was a number I didn't recognize, I tapped on the receive button and a tiny voice answered.

" Miss McAvoy? the voice asked.

" mhm. How can I help?" I asked

" It's Lisa. You're wanted in ten minutes by Mr Ford in his office"

"Oh. Okay " I said . Just what I thought, he found out and now I was going to get fired . The day couldn't getter worser than this .

* * * * * *

Damian's POV

It took me only a few seconds to realize the mess McAvoy had done and when I found out I sent my secretary to place a call to her to report in my office immediately, she was in serious trouble, I don't think she realized it yet but I still wanted her own story from her mouth , something about her made me want to hear her out even though what did she pissed me off and was something really stupid .

As she walked in I could notice her eyes were puffy and red from crying meaning she had been crying even before I called for her which irritated me more , seven years ago I would have felt serious sympathy for her but I'd learned my lesson, for all I I knew this could be an act . Yes . Scheeming females, always trying to milk compassion from vulnerable males, at that instance I got angrier but looking up at her face again I decided to be rational.

" I'm so sorry my Ford, I . . . it's all my fault . I think I made a mistake" she began to speak uncontrollably " it must have been a line I made a mistake in . I swear I'll do it all over again if you give me another week. I won't make any mistakes and you could even decide not to pay me the contract money . I d- I'm not usually this unprofessional and disorganized. Please just give me a week and everything would be as it should. Please Mr Ford" she began to sob but quickly wipes the tears away from her face and kept quiet.

I slid the contract she'd signed a week ago to the other end of the table were she stood.

" Read it " I said aloud.

* * * * * *

Katie's POV

When I got in I thought I was going to be grown up about the whole issue and work out a negotiation with Mr Ford but I couldn't just act okay . The pressure on me made me break down, causing me to ramble and making me look stupid and desperate .

Picking up the contract I'd signed a week ago I read through it to the last paragraph, how come I didn't read through it properly before I signed it ! My heart skipped a beat when I saw that I had to pay back a huge sum of seventy three thousand dollars for breaching the contract !

The world around me seemed to pause for a moment , my legs seemed to loose their balance as I tried to stand up but couldn't , I could barely even squeeze out enough money for moms radiotherapy and then this ? I was now indebted with a huge sum of money. How was my dream job turning into my worst nightmare!

" I can't. . . don't have this type of money . I'll go bankrupt . Please just give me more time -" I began to plead when he cut me short.

" A deal's a deal miss McAvoy" he said to me blankly without a single trace of pity .

" I'll do anything , absolutely anything if you let me start over the project one last time " .With this a develish smirk appeared across his face .

" Anything ? he asked still smirking which annoyed me, since he seemed only too happy to watch me beg him.

" Yes anything" . I knew I was getting myself into a big mess but I didn't mind . Since I was a virgin I was scared he was going to ask me to sleep with him but then again I was willing to do that than pay back that money.

" Get married to me " he said .

"