Céline got to work in record time, thirty minutes after she had left her house. The traffic was low and she had no delays on the road at all. It was one of those days the heavens were on her side. Everything was going smoothly.
She walked to the office she now officially shared with Damien and dropped her bag on her corner, the lounge. She brought out her aunt’s laptop and placed it on the coffee table she had turned to her working table.
Céline did plan to get a laptop for herself at the end of the month by all means, but her aunt’s laptop would have to do for now.
Her aunt hadn’t complained about her constant use of the device, mostly because she was still at home awaiting the police to call off the investigation about the pregnant student they found dead a couple of days ago, a few meters away from their college. She knew that as soon as the police called off the investigation, her aunt Elizabeth would need her laptop back.
In the meantime, she just had to use it till she got a new one for herself.
She picked up her phone and dialed Tiana’s private line. It was still too early for Tiana to be in the building and she needed her to get a fresh bag of coffee for her.
Tiana picked up almost immediately without waiting for it to ring for long. She was panting over the phone.
“Good morning Céline, I a-m a c-ouple of b-locks away! Am I in trouble?” Tiana stammered, rushing her words before Céline could even explain why she called her.
Tiana was probably worried Damien was around and he needed her for something and couldn’t find her -which in her terms meant she was in big trouble.
This woman was going to give herself high blood pressure over Damien!
“No, Tiana, you are not in trouble…” Céline told her, a smile playing on her lips. Tiana was always so shaken up about Damien.
“Wheewww, I got so worried when I saw your call. What’s going on then?” She chirped and Céline could imagine her rubbing a hand on her nose as she took brisk steps to work.
“Tiana this is seven thirty in the morning. No one expects you to get here by this time. So relax…” Céline tried to calm her, a smile still hanging at the corners of her mouth.
Forget the fact that she and Damien were practically seducing each other, he wasn’t a terrible boss. She could at least say that with confidence. She had been with Culhane group for almost a week now and he hadn’t acted unruly towards his staff. Yet, Tiana always trembled when Damien’s name was mentioned.
“Oh- okay,” Tiana answered. There was still uncertainty hidden in her voice. Céline could imagine her walking very fast on the road trying to get to work as fast as possible to avoid being yelled at.
Tiana could be so weird, Céline thought to herself.
“Actually I wanted you to help me get coffee bags. We don’t have any left in the office, I used the last one yesterday.” Céline rose from her seat and walked to Damien’s table. She picked up a file and walked back to her corner.
“For sir?” Tiana asked.
Céline rolled her eyes. “Yes, for him.”
“Okay, I will do that.”
Tiana sounded breathless and relieved at the same time and Céline couldn’t help chuckling to herself. Tiana was a very weird woman indeed.
“Thank you,” she told her before hanging up.
Céline settled into her seat by the corner and started sorting Damien’s mail. Damien had so much mails on a regular basis, sometimes it was overwhelming. But Céline enjoyed her work.
As she worked, she soon found herself lost in her thoughts.
After the dream she had of John few nights ago, she became even more determined to get her plan moving so she could get the money she needed. She knew the next time she heard from John it would be to inform her of the killer and she needed to be prepared. She needed to have the money ready.
Seducing Damien was the goal and objective.
And what a easy target she got, she thought with a smile.
Damien made the job so much easy. Sometimes she forgot it was all a plan. Most times it felt like she was the one getting seduced. She could see it in his eyes that he was falling for her real bad.
She in turn, found him very attractive and the things his intense stares did to her, she didn’t even have to pretend to like him back, the likeness was natural. It was like they just clicked. Yet there was this string between them that prevented them from crossing the line.
A knock sounded on the door and Céline looked up from her laptop, leaving her thoughts behind.
“Yes, come in.” She called.
It was barely eight o’clock in the morning, she knew it couldn’t be Damien nor the cleaning team. The latter had already done their job much earlier. So she wondered who it could be.
An old but classy woman stepped into the office and Céline got up from her working corner, scrutinizing the woman. The smell of apples filled the room and Céline couldn’t help but admire the woman.
“Good morning ma’am, how may I help you?”
Céline asked wondering in her mind who the woman could be. She knew it was definitely not Damien’s mother, she had seen Damien’s mother in magazines so she had an image of her in her head. This woman standing in front of her could be a business mogul instead, so she still had to be polite.
“I am Mrs Lydia, manager of the Tres Chic boutique, I am here to see Mr Culhane.”
She introduced herself, she even offered a hand to Céline.
No wonder she looked so classy and smelled even better. She was into fashion. She had to represent.
Céline knew about Tres Chic boutique. She had sorted a document for restocking for it on her very first day at work, so she knew it was one of Damien’s many businesses.
She took Mrs Lydia’s hand and shook it firmly.
“I see, a pleasure to finally meet with you in person. I am Céline. Céline Fayet, Da- Mr Culhane’s personal assistant, please have a seat.” She bit her lip holding back the way Damien’s name rolled off her lips so easily, even in a formal setting.
She motioned for Lydia to take a seat across Damien’s desk. Céline walked from her corner in the office and positioned herself beside Damien’s seat.
“Thank you, Céline. I have heard so much about you.” Mrs Lydia said, taking the seat Céline had offered her.
Céline forced herself not to roll her eyes at the woman.
How could she have heard ‘so much’ about her when she had worked for Damien for only a week now.
She wondered why people bothered to make up stories just to remain relevant, it made no sense.
“So, would you like to wait for him or I can take a message,” Céline offered, forcing a smile on her face.
Mrs Lydia didn’t seem like such a good person in her eyes anymore. But instead of making her wait for hours, she decided to help her out by offering to take a message.
It was still too early for Damien to come to the office. He always came way pass nine in the morning. If Mrs Lydia wanted to wait, she would be waiting for over an hour.
“Oh no, I don’t have to do that.” Mrs Lydia trailed with a wave of her gloved hand. “This isn’t an unofficial meeting my dear. I was just passing by and decided to drop…” She trailed again as she searched her bag. “Yes, I wanted to drop this to Mr Culhane.”
She handed a small square silver card to Céline and the later, observed it cautiously. It was a fancy invitation card that had the letters ‘CEO’ written in bold gold prints.
“To increase our sales this fashion season, my team and I decided to organize a sort of gala to exhibit our products. So, we wanted Mr Culhane to do the honor of rendering the opening speech.” Her eyes tinkled with pride as she explained the program to Céline.
Céline examined the card one more time and looked up at the woman. “Okay, I will hand it over to him. Is there a speech attached to it?”
“Oh no, that’s why I came here this early. I knew Mr Culhane would not be around…”
Céline raised her brow, staring at the woman. What was she taking about now?
“Honestly, I have a really useless assistant and when I heard Mr Culhane had finally gotten a really efficient assistant, I thought I could ask you to help prepare that, please.” The woman looked scared as she spoke. This alarmed Céline.
Were the other workers thinking she was also a very difficult person like they thought of their boss?
“It’s no problem, I will prepare a speech for him. When is the gala?” Céline hurriedly replied. She didn’t want people to think she was a bad person.
“It’s set for the second Saturday of next month.” Mrs Lydia looked relieved as soon as Céline announced she would do it.
Did she think Céline would refuse? She wasn’t a cruel woman. She couldn’t do that.
A small voice reminded her of the pregnant women she was allowing John kill for her own selfish reasons. Maybe she was a woman to be scared of after all. She was a monster.
Mrs Lydia got up from the chair she was seated in, bringing Céline out of her thoughts.
“Thank you so much Céline, you don’t know how much you have helped me.” She held Céline’s hands in hers, expressing her gratitude.
“It’s no problem.” Céline smiled, this time, her smile was genuine.
“I have to go now. Do have a nice day my dear!” Mrs Lydia squeezed Céline’s hands one more time and left the office.