Kai pondered it momentarily, smirked, and lifted the phone on his desk before pressing a button. He had no issue if she needed this to stop wasting his time. He could always change his mind if she backed out.
“It’s Me, Xuchen.. Reinstate Inhale and its team. Release the funding but tell them to appoint a new team leader. Miss Liu has been promoted to the executive floor. Do it pronto.” Kai listened to whoever was on the other end of the call before hanging up and raising a brow at her with an air of impatience. He gestured with a nod and eye flicker to what she held in her hands, then sat back to watch and wait.
Meilei picked up the pen, clicked off the lid, closed her eyes, and bit her lip before applying the pen to the paper. Opening them to see she was signing it completely, she stared at it as all her regret flooded her soul.
Meilei almost snapped her neck with the whiplash turn of staring at him in outrage.
“I’ll dress appropriately for my job role.” Meilei ground through her teeth, biting back the urge to tell him to lose himself through the straying tears that were drying up as anger replaced despair. She stood on shaky legs, still only coming level with his chest, and stuck her chin in the air to fake bravado. “I’ll see you in the morning, Mr. Xuchen.” The words almost choked her, and she mustered up as much dignity as she could to turn on her heel and walk out. Seething and shaking with every step, he was aware he was watching her leave.
Kai stood motionless, a hand in his pocket as he lounged casually as though he hadn’t a care in the world. His eyes followed her careful steps, yet only a glare and intense frown developed on his face.
He should have felt happy that she had fallen right into his lap, but instead, he was plagued with a dark mood overtaking his soul.
Meilei knelt to pick up the scattered files, scrambling to grab at them while Kai towered over her, impatience making him glare. Her face flamed with embarrassment, given she had an audience nearby of staff giggling at her. Irritated by her clumsiness, Kai stepped over them and instead moved to greet his client with a handshake. Humiliating her more with his refusal to help.
Since she arrived at his office this morning, it had been one thing after another with her. She arrived late, was refused entry without her updated ID, and had to hightail it back to HR for the new one, sweating and heaving because she didn’t dare be late. She had spilled coffee over his desk in a stupid trip and had dropped files twice before this. One time right into his lap when he was sitting on his couch, and she couldn’t master answering a damn phone. Pressing buttons and cutting off calls into his office because he didn’t seem to care about teaching her how to use the infernal thing. She acted like a nervous intern who had no place in any office.
Meilei ran to catch up to them, the slidey plastic files slipping about in her arms, so she felt like she was juggling clumsy objects. She ran smack bang into the back of Kai as he stopped at the elevator. A sudden hard collision jilted him onto his toes with a thud to his spine and angered him simultaneously.
“Ouch.” She yelped in pain, her nose almost breaking through to her skull, and the impact made her drop all the files again. Her hand was impulsive to cradle her face. This time, they splatted to the floor and slid in all directions around her feet like a chaotic modern dance of fluttering pages.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Are you doing this on purpose?” Kai snapped at her, losing his cool for the fifth time today, and shoved her away from him with more force than necessary. Sending her teetering on her heels. “Pick them up and follow in the next elevator. Pull yourself together. You’re embarrassing me.” He reprimanded her right before his client and glared with a serious warning that his patience was wearing thin. Meilei wanted the floor to open up and take her. Caught in his laser-piercing and hateful gaze that made her feel about an inch tall, she bit her lip to curb the urge to cry.
Ling had warned her not to do this and argued with her half the night about agreeing. She had been ready to rampage and kick Kai’s ass, and it had taken all of Suying’s mediation and calm presence to quiet that feisty one. Meilei convinced her she could do this and made Ling promise not to intervene, but now she was here, she completely regretted this. He could reduce her to worthless ashes, and the constant berating wore her down.
Leaving Yue in Ling’s care this morning had broken her heart. Not being the one to dress or feed her and take her to school felt like she was an awful mother who couldn’t even spare time for her child. She had always been the one to deal with Yue’s morning routine since she was born. It was still stinging her heart, knowing that for the foreseeable future, she had to rely on her friends to raise her baby in the mornings, and it sucked. Morning time with Yue was the highlight of her day.
“Hold the lift.” A woman’s voice behind Meilei had Kai press the button to open the doors before they completely closed on her. And as Meilei gathered the last scattered files and stood up, a tall, slender woman caught up to her side in a swirl of designer clothes and precise grooming. She was elegant and smelled of expensive perfume, flashing a pretty smile.
“Sorry I’m late, Mr. Sakuro… I’m Anna Taylor, director of operations. We met before.” She extended a graceful hand and entered the elevator, and Meilei followed silently in slight awe of her. She reminded her of Ling, only with shorter hair and a much more businesslike manner. Meilei tried to make herself invisible. Walking behind the well-dressed beauty, she wanted to curl up in her shadow and hide from Kai’s scathing stare aimed her way.
“Ah, Miss Taylor. How could I forget? This is a pleasant surprise.”
“Pleasure.” She was good at schmoozing and pleasantries with rich men in suits, and Meilei tried to make herself small in the corner out of the way while the three of them stood in the center. She adjusted her folders into a neat pile and a better grip while they climbed to the top floor and could feel Kai periodically glancing her way. His mood was suffocating and getting worse by the hour. He had been on her case for everything, picking fault at every detail, and it was only mid-morning. He made her so uncontrollably nervous that she became a flaky, clumsy mess. It was his fault she kept dropping things. Just being near him was a very specific kind of torture.
“So are you here for my benefit, Miss Taylor, or to keep our young CEO happy?” There was a familiarity with his words, and Meilei wondered how good a relationship they had with this man. He had an air of creep and was openly eyeing up the woman without shame.
“Of course, it’s for you… Kai can see me anytime, but I rushed right over when I heard we were having an honored guest of your caliber.” Anna gushed, smiling brightly. All that charm and confidence made Meilei feel small and shabby. She doubted this woman had ever tripped over nothing and thrown a cup of coffee over Kai’s desk before.
Meilei glanced from the woman to Kai, a horrid heaviness twisting her stomach at the easy way she said his name. The slight affection in how she said it. Even someone in management normally didn’t use first names when addressing their seniors. She must have some relationship beyond work to call him Kai easily, which struck a slicing pain low in her gut.
Meilei lowered her eyes away from them and stared at the floor instead. Her heart was pounding fast, and her stomach was aching, feeling dumb that this bothered her. Kai hadn’t been hers for a long time, and he loathed the very ground she walked on. Of course, he had moved on and found other women all these years. Ling had even told her so.
The elevator opened quickly, and she followed them out after they passed her, trying not to drop everything this time and slowly putting one step in front of the other with no new mishaps. She was trying to calm her pace and be more aware of her surroundings. She just wished today would end already. She had no idea how she was going to endure months of this.
“Put them over there.” Kai turned on her, catching her upper arm to tug her back abruptly, and motioned to a low coffee table in the center of the couches. His contact was a brutal and impatient grip, not friendly at all. Meilei promptly did as she was told, cursing him under her breath for his need to grab her. She had told herself in the mirror a million times this morning that she would obey without question, not argue with him, and give him no reason to punish her. It was hard to keep her mouth shut when he was being such an asshole.
That was her only game plan; it wasn’t going well so far.
“Can I get you a coffee, Mr. Sakuro, or tea?” Anna gracefully asked, intervening and walking to the refreshments counter at one side before Kai ordered Meilei to do it. Meilei saw a muscle tense in his jaw as he passed Anna with a weird look that Meilei couldn’t translate. The flippant little smile she returned seemed to be understood as he subtly shook his head, and Meilei felt sick. They had a definite tacit understanding and seemed closer than just coworkers.
Kai and the client sat on opposite couches, immediately dropping to small talk and pleasantries as the Anna girl set up a tray of coffee and snacks and casually returned. Leaving Meilei standing like a spare part behind them. She didn’t know where else she was meant to go or what to do, so she just stayed here. Staring at the wall and trying not to draw attention to herself. She had seen other assistants hover in the background and assumed she should do it. She was tired from lack of sleep anyway and slipped into a daydream, blanking their conversation for some mental respite.
She had no idea what they were discussing, if she was meant to take notes, or if her entire role was carrying things for Kai daily. He wasn’t giving her much direction besides that. He would click his fingers, give her mundane tasks, and expect her to hop to it without complaint. If this was the extent of her punishment, it wasn’t that bad. She might survive if she ignored his presence, attitude, hateful glares, and his entire general person.
“Meilei, come here.” Kai snapped at her, bringing her back from zoning out, and she had no idea how long she had been standing there. Annoyed that he still got to use her first name while he called every other secretary out there by their surnames. It felt like only seconds, but their mugs were already half drunk, and she hurried to Kai’s side.