My Boss Got Me Fallin' In Love

Chapter 5: The Return of the X

[Countdown: 9 days before the event and 15 days before Christmas]

I got onto the elevator, sleepy. I wasn't my usual cheerful-self. This day was, for sure, my last day here in Leighton. Just thinking about that made me feel sad. We were nearly done with everything. All that’s left to do is sign papers. Of course, there's also the packing-up-my-things part. I couldn’t seem to start doing it.

I waited as the elevator ascended and stopped on the second floor. I yawned as the elevator doors parted and revealed a breath-taking view. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration.

Ivan McKenzie Travis, Vice President of Leighton Industries.

Wait, scratch that. His name totally ruined my introduction. How the hell did the name McKenzie pop into my mind anyways?

He flashed a smile at me as he stepped into the elevator with me. Once again, my eyes could only look into his for no more than four seconds. The elevator filled with his scent and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. I noted that he wasn't carrying any briefcase and he came from the second floor. He was also holding two large cups of coffee.

"Hey there," he greeted as he handed me one of the cups. Was he, like, expecting me?

I hesitated for a second before taking it. "Thank you."

I stared at the cup, but I could feel his eyes study me.

"You're weird today, what's up?" he asked, facing me.

"Tired...sleepy.” I yawned. “Finished my project last night and slept in a not-so-decent hour."

“Good thing I got you coffee, then.”

We've been like this for the past few days, greeting each other, making small talk, having friendly banters. Looking back, Courtney still owed me one for literally handing me to him a few days ago. However, I also needed to thank her because if she didn't push me to go with him, Ivan and I wouldn't have this kind of relationship.

And my relationship, I meant: FRIENDS.

Chapter 4: The Return of the X

We talked a lot inside the elevator, mainly about work. When it stopped, he gestured, "Ladies first," with a smirk. I chuckled as I got out of the elevator "Being friends doesn't mean you could get cocky with that smirk of yours," I joked.

"You should get used to my smirk, Katee, it'll show up a lot more often." He winked as he followed me.

We walked until I stopped in front of my office, waving at him and thanking him for the coffee as he went on his way. I got in with my key and turned the lights on. I sat behind my desk and double-checked all the things for the event. I was expecting paperwork since my team and I were already done designing the whole room. True enough, Aleksie came in with a bunch of folders and put them on my desk. She was, of course, as bright as ever.

"Good morning, Katee!" she greeted, but then frowned "You look awfully tired today, what happened?"

"Finished my project the whole night," I held up the cup of coffee. "But I'm more alive now, thanks to caffeine."

She laughed. "Well, don't get too used to caffeine, they could make you age more. Also, if you're tired and you drink caffeinated drinks like coffee, you'll only get energized for half an hour then you'll get tired again." She stated as I pulled the folders towards me.

"Thanks for the facts, Aleksie. Don't worry, I don't drink that much coffee." I assured her.

"Alright-y then, I'll be off. Just call me when you need anything." She grinned at me. I waved good-bye to her as she got out. I sank back to my chair and started scanning through the folders.

Finally, after more than two hours of sitting around, reading and signing stuff, I was done. I didn't even expect that five folders would take THAT long. I looked at my clock, it read 11: 30 am. My stomach growled. I decided I'd just bring the papers to Aleksie then head straight out to get some food. Aleksie's office was just beside Ivan's, which was almost at the end of our floor.

I walked towards her office and knocked. Someone opened the door, who, from what I remember, was Aleksie’s assistant. She was hired the same day as I was, and I think she's the one Ivan had mistaken me to be. She smiled sweetly at me, just like how Aleksie does. Maybe it's true what they say: that bosses hire employees who are almost the same as them.

"Hello there, are you here for Miss Aleksie?" she asked.

"Um, yes."

"I figure you're Katee Adams. Am I right?"

I nodded.

"Well, Miss Aleksie told me to tell you that she'll be gone for quite a while, so you can just pass the papers directly to Sir Ivan."

"Oh, okay. Thanks um,” I read her nameplate, “Allison." She smiled at me then I left.

I knocked at Ivan's door.

"Come in," I heard him say, so I did.

He looked the same as he did just hours before, but now, he was sitting behind his desk with his sleeves folded to his elbows. He was deep into reading the files spread out in front of him, frowning as he picked up one of them.

"Aleksie said to give this to you," I explained. He looked up at me and his frown dissipated into a smile. He put down the file he was holding and sat back.

"Ah, you're already done.” He said as I handed him the folders. “Have a seat."

I sat on the chair and put my hands on my lap. I didn’t think we had anything more to talk about. I stayed silent and looked around his office, my eyes landing on everything inside the room except his eyes. After a few seconds that seemed like an eternity of silence, he spoke up.

"I see it's your last day today, huh?" he asked, raising the folder so I couldn't see his face.

"Yup, pretty sad." I said, sheepishly.

He chuckled. "Well, feel free to come back to Leighton whenever. Anyways, I think I've got something that's yours." He put the folder down and pulled one of his drawers open. He took out something familiar.

My iPod. How he got a hold of it, I didn't know.

"You left this behind when you were in my car. I forgot to give it back and I only remembered just this morning when I opened the glove compartment." He handed it to me.

"Thanks." I examined the iPod, making sure it was really mine. "I didn't even realize it was missing..."

He started unfolding the sleeves of his shirt and put on a suit jacket.

"Seriously?" I asked with a smile. "Why do you always need to look formal?"

He chuckled and checked his watch, "I have a meeting in about...10 minutes."

"You don't necessarily need to wear a suit during meetings, right?"

He nodded as he fixed his attire. "Yeah, but being formal harnesses more respect than wearing just dress shirts."

I rolled my eyes.

"Besides, I look better when I wear these." He chuckled. It seemed that he forgot to put on a necktie, so he took off the jacket again and started putting the necktie on.

"You look good in everything you wear." It slipped from my mouth even before I could think. My eyes grew wide at my lack of inhibition, and I tried to supress a blush. I wasn't trying to flirt, though. I just wanted to say the truth.

Ivan chuckled again. "I know," he wiggled his eyebrows. He's such a kid. Seriously, when you first see him, you'd totally think he's such an unhappy, strict, hot guy, but when you become friends with him, he becomes a laid-back, funny teenager. Although, he was still strict when it comes to work.

I put my iPod in my pocket and stood up. "Well, I'll leave now." I said "Still got lots to do, and you have a meeting to prepare for."

"Wait a sec," He grabbed his briefcase and walked with me towards the door.

I noticed his undone necktie before he even opened the door. "You're going to a meeting with that?" I pointed out. He didn't seem to notice, so I fixed his necktie myself.

It pretty much felt like everything was in slow motion, but I was sure it only took seconds. I could feel his eyes on my face, and his breath on my cheek. I was starting to breathe shallowly as I felt the blood rush up to my cheeks. Seriously, Katee, why didn't you just tell him to fix his necktie? Suddenly, the door opened.

I automatically jumped back. Ivan looked a bit startled. Time was running at its normal pace again. It was a girl, around my age. She looked pretty with her short black hair which was cut to lay perfectly on her shoulders. She also had bangs which framed her face like art.

She might've looked like a beautiful princess, but that was before I knew she was a little witch. Okay, that was obviously another exaggeration.

She looked at Ivan with so much love in her blue eyes, then she narrowed them at me. "Ivan, who is this girl?" She raised an eyebrow at the star-struck Ivan. "And what the hell is going on?" she asked.

Um, wasn’t I the one supposed to ask that?

His face turned from confused to even more confused, if that's even possible. He disregarded the girl's questions. "What are you doing here, Megan?" he asked, his voice showing not even the slightest of fondness.

Megan pouted, putting a hand on her hip. "Aren't you happy to see me, dear?"

"Not one bit." Ivan spat.

She pouted even more as she came closer to Ivan. "I thought you've forgiven me already and you're ready to get back together? You told me you just needed time to think about it."

"I have, in fact, thought about it, and the truth is…" Ivan took a step back and pulled me in front of him while grabbing a hold of my hand. He intertwined our fingers together. Nothing was registering inside my brain. "Sorry Megan, but I've gotten over you and your sick games. I'm with Katee now."

I was even more shocked with the sudden turnout of events. If only I weren't too dumbstruck to speak, I would've raised an eyebrow at him and put my hands on my waist. But, I was too distracted by the gravity of the situation and the warmth of his hand on mine.

Of course, she narrowed her eyes at me again and frowned. Disbelief filled her face.

"Her?" She chuckled bitterly. "Seriously, Ivan. You can do better than," she looked at me from head to toe, "that."

Oh great. I was about to defend myself when Ivan spoke up.

"Katee's better than you in every way. Accept that fact." I took a small sideward step so I could give a look at Ivan, as if to subtly say ‘what the hell, man?’ He looked back at me with some kind of expression I couldn’t really figure out.

"In fact,” he pulled me closer. “Katee and I are planning to go on a date tomorrow." He said.

"What?" I meant to say it out loud, but it came out almost inaudible. Megan raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, yeah, I was about to ask you if you're free tomorrow." He winked at me as Megan rolled her eyes.

"I know your games, Ivan. Don't think I'm foolish enough to believe she's replaced me. You’ll be back to your senses. And you,” She stared me down. “Better watch your back."

She turned her back on us, her hair snapping dramatically as she left and slammed the door behind her. The room was silent for a few seconds. I heard Ivan sigh.

"Whoa..." I was the first one to speak. I turned to him with a frown on my face. I was about to ask about what just happened when he cut me off.

"I gave you the look!" He said, looking a bit irritated while I stood there, dumbfounded. He said it like I could understand what he was talking about. "You should've gone with the flow!"

"What the hell are you saying, Ivan?" I hissed.

"I gave you a meaningful look before, and you even asked 'what?' when I told her about our date tomorrow."

I was slowly starting to get it. It was the 'look'. I really didn't know. Everything happened so fast.

"Look, I think I'm the one who should be quite hot-headed here, right? I mean, I was the one who got pulled into the middle of you two, obviously. I think I need a proper explanation." I crossed my arms and started tapping my foot.

He sighed and massaged his forehead. "Megan's an ex."

"The clingy type, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah. Let's just say she's dark and twisted and yup, clingy. We broke up months ago and yet…" he sighed even deeper. I waited for him to finish what he was saying, when a thought crossed his mind and his face lightened up. "Anyway, I'll pick you up tomorrow at...5 pm?" he asked.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Pick me up for what, exactly?"

"Our date," he shrugged, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "You mean, our cover date?" I asked. I thought it was better not to assume, or else I'd just get my hopes up with this guy. He thought for a second then nodded. He opened the door and waited for me to go out first. He followed and closed the door behind him.

"Why do we need to do that?" I asked.

"You don't know Megan. She's as sneaky as a…snake. She'll take every chance to get back into my life, or break my life." He explained.

“But why should I go through all this hassle for you?” I asked. It was just a half-meant joke, but he suddenly walked a few steps ahead, stopped in front of me, and turned. His eyes stared into mine and I looked away. He held on to my shoulders gently so I would face him. "I'm begging you, Katee. Please."

I was speechless. He was actually seriously desperate to get this Megan away from his life. Right there and then, I decided that since I was his friend I should help him. Not like I'd get a bad turnout from it, right?

I sighed. "So," I said. "What should I wear?"

He grinned, his eyes sparkling. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he exclaimed. He wrapped his arms around me, catching me off-guard. It was a bit awkward, being in his arms, being so close to him that I could smell his hair, feel his heartbeat, feel him breathe. I didn’t know what to do, so I just patted his back lightly and hoped no one would see us.

He pulled away after a few seconds. "You," I said, "are one desperate guy!" He touched the back of his neck and shrugged, a sheepish smile on his face.

"Where are we going tomorrow, anyway?" I asked as I resumed walking. He walked backwards so he was still facing me.

"It's a secret.” He winked. “Just wear something casual."

"Casual for you is wearing a tux, Ivan." I joked.

He chuckled. "I mean, a shirt and jeans or something."

"Fine, fine." I waved him off. We both entered the elevator. Ivan pressed the button for the 11th floor while I pressed the one for the 10th. It was one awkward elevator ride for me. I didn't know why, but I didn't realize I was holding my breath. Maybe it was because he was standing so close to me. Not that he stinks - because he smelled really good - but something in my gut started churning. It’s the same weird feeling that I get whenever I stare or look into his eyes for more than five seconds.

Finally, the elevator doors parted. I waved and muttered a goodbye as normally as I could, hiding my face with my hair as I went on my way out of the elevator. He simply waved back at me with a smile, then put his left hand in his pocket as the elevator doors closed.

I was able to breathe freely again, and my stomach stopped rotating. I still couldn't believe I got a non-real date tomorrow...with Ivan.

Sigh... this is one complicated last day of work.