Cath

Monday rolled in faster than I expected it or wanted to. And with my conversation with Andrea the other night, I can't help but feel nervous at the thought of seeing Gavin for the first time after what happened. I don't want things to be awkward between us. Because of my anxiousness, I had hardly enough sleep. I got in the office quite early, and as my co workers started to arrive, their attention was caught by my bandaged hand, but I was a bit glad that no one asked me about it.

"So it was really serious." Axel said to me as soon as he saw my hand. He was followed by the rest of the team, and I immediately saw the worry in their faces.

"This is nothing. I'm just sorry that I wasn't able to do the final revisions." I said to them apologetically.

"No worries. Besides, Sir Mitchel had everything covered and we were able to pass the final templates to production last Friday." Janice assured me and I somehow felt a bit relieved.

"Are you sure you can work with a heavily bandaged hand?" Andrea suddenly appeared behind Axel.

"I still have my other hand Dre. I'm gonna be fine. Besides, I have no deadlines to meet for this week, so I can take things easy." I replied to her and she just smiled at me, giving me a knowing look, and I knew exactly what was running through her mind. She's trying to tease me without letting the others know.

"She's worse than we thought. She really have no conscience. She made our boss do the work for her and here she is talking about taking things easy." I heard Belle say from her cubicle. Andrea was about to retort back at them when suddenly someone appeared beside her.

"Good morning Miss Catherine. I'm Kyla, Sir Mitchel's new secretary. He wants to have a word with you in his office." said the new comer. Immediately, my hands became sweaty and clammy. My heart started pounding at my chest. I glance at Andrea and she's smirking like she knows that something is about to go down.

"Ah. Okay. I'll be right there. Thank you." I replied to her and she left immediately to go back to her desk.

"I guess, Sir Mitchel had enough with her laziness. She pushed her luck way to much." Belle said, this time, directed at me. Andrea was about to open his mouth again, but I held her back. I don't want drama this early in the morning.

"Not worth it Dre." I told her as I stood up from my desk.

"See you guys later." I said to them, giving them a reassuring smile to try and ease the worried look on their faces.

I turned my back to them and slowly went my way to Gavin's office. I stood there in front of the door for a couple of minutes, and I guess Kyla noticed this and stood up from her chair.

"Do you want me to ask sir Mitchel if you can come in?" She asked cheerfully at me.

"No, I'm fine. Honestly, I'm just a bit nervous." I said to her.

"Take your time Miss Catherine." She said to me and then sat back down on her chair.

"Just call me Cath." I said to her with a smile in which she immediately returned before heaving a last deep breath and finally knocking on the door that was standing in front of me.

"You can come in." Said a deep, husky voice that I've grown familiar with. I slowly opened the door and peaked inside it. Gavin was sitting behind his desk with two of the buttons of his polo shirt opened and his sleeves are pulled roughly up his arms. He was so focused on his work that I didn't want to disturb him at all.

He looks so majestic with the sunlight coming through the opened curtains behind him. His effortlessly tousled hair drapes over his head complimenting his already perfect jawline. He was so engross in typing away on his computer, unconsciously flexing his arms, showing off his perfectly sculpted biceps and triceps.

"Sit down Catherine." he said to me, snapping me out of my day dream. I approached him and sat down on the chair in front of his desk, waiting for him to start speaking. A few seconds gone by and he finally stopped typing and faced me with a slight smile on his face.

"Sorry, I was just finishing something."

"Its okay. What do you want to talk to me about sir?" I asked not wanting to beat around the bush. He let out a small laugh and widened his smile.

"Are you okay now? Or maybe you need one or two more days?" He asked and it was my turn to give a little giggle.

"I'm fine sir. I can do my fair share of work. I don't want my co-workers to think that I'm using my injury as an excuse to slack off." I answered him directly.

"That's good then, just don't overwork yourself. That's all. You can get back to your work." I nodded at him, giving him a curt smile and went back out of his office.

As I opened the door, I saw a familiar looking woman waiting in the chair besides Kyla's desk. It was the same woman in red as from before. She stood up as soon as she saw me and I was taken aback by her as she smiled welcoming to me.

"You must be Catherine?" she began, and I just nodded, not being able to string my words together.

"I've heard a lot about one of the most talented creator here. I'm Gabriela by the way." She continued, extending her hand to me. I shook her hand in the most awkward way possible before smiling back at her.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting. You can see sir Mitchel." I said to her, not wanting her to have the wrong idea.

"It's fine. I had a lovely conversation with Kyla."

"I'll get back to work now. Have a nice day." I said to her politely and speedily made my way back to my cubicle.

"So what was the morning call about?" Andrea instantly asked as soon as we finished ordering our lunch at the newly opened Japanese restaurant near our building.

"It was nothing special, Dre. He just wanted to make sure that I can work." I answered her.

"A lot of employees gets sick or injured, but not all of them are called into their boss's office." She said in a know-it-all voice that she always use, whenever she knows that she's right about something.

I just rolled my eyes at her and folded my arms to my chest, making her laugh as the waiter finally served our food.

"You can be so oblivious sometimes, and I'm getting frustrated about it." Andrea suddenly said as she started eating.

"Oblivious to what?" I asked as I started munching down on my food. She just looked at me like I said the most bizarre thing that she ever heard of, then let out a frustrated sigh and continued stuffing her face with food.

"Figure it out for yourself, dummy!" and that was the last thing she said to me about it, during our lunch break even after we got back to the office.

I finished writing the synopsis for he new volume of one of our comics when Axel, suddenly appeared besides me.

"You done?" he asked and I just looked at him curiously. Its very unlike him to bother himself with things that his not involved with, so I shot him and suspicious look.

"What? Can't I ask my co-worker, how they are doing?" He said, being so defensive about his actions, and some how, I find that really funny. He then ruffled his hair in frustration and quickly went back to his cubicle, like nothing happened.

All through the day, I can't help but feel, as if I'm being watched by someone. When I go to the comfort room, pantry, or even when I'm just in my own cubicle, I feel like someone was watching my every move.

When I finally looked at the clock in our office and noticed that it was only ten more minutes before work ends, I started clearing my desk and stood up from my chair, going straight to the comfort room to do my business before heading home. As I was going back to the office, someone shockingly pulled me to the fire exit. I was more shocked when I finally realized who he was.

"What are you doing Axel?" I immediately asked him as he shut the door behind him. He let out a deep sigh and slowly stepped closer to me, I instinctively started walking backwards. My heart started pounding like crazy, then I suddenly felt my back against the wall.

I was getting myself ready to scream my lungs out, but my voice was caught in my throat the next time he spoke up.

"I need your help." he said, looking straight into my eyes, making me see how genuine his pleas are.