Once Upon A Time(71)

“Oh my hell. I’m going to bury them!” she shrieked.

“Rein it in, Kylie. They’re children trying to play the adult's game. I’m over it.” I shrugged, sitting back on my knees as she crouched down in front of me.

“Can I call a hit man?”

“It’s okay.” I shrugged, although I was contemplating her idea. “I have some news.”

“Oh!!” She clapped her hands, clearly excited. “You need to fill me in on what happened. I would’ve asked this morning but I was a little hungover when you came home for a shower.”

The next twenty minutes rolled by with collections of gasps, shock and giggling from Kylie as I filled her in what happened between me and Gabriel last night and this morning.

“I’m so freaking happy for you!” She smiled. “Remember, you can control the pace of it. You don’t have to go head first into the unknown and considering he’s still a client, I think holding back a little would be a good idea.”

“There’s a wrench in the plan though.” I sighed, waving to the paperwork all around us. “I’ve got to get this paperwork done, otherwise I can’t go to the opening.”

Kylie’s jaw dropped open at the representation of the mass of paper on the floor.

“Wait, you’ve got to get all of this done by then just so you can go?” she asked, her brows furrowed. “That’s insane and completely ridiculous!”

“Hey, it’s fine. It’s no big deal.” I shrugged.

It was a lie. It was a big deal. Not only did I want to go to the opening so I could see all my hard work, but to see Gabriel and announce our relationship. But, unlike all the books, life tended to get in the way of fairy tales.

“Let me talk to Phil. I’m sure he’d be okay with me helping you out,” she said, standing from her crouched position in front of me.

“No.” I shook my head. “Honestly, I want to do this. I want to prove I deserve my job and one day be able to break that damn tea cup in Kate’s office.”

“But—”

I shook my head.

“No, Kylie. I can do this.”

I was determined. I was going to prove everyone wrong.

“Okay.” She sighed. “I’ll grab you coffee.”

She left my office in a hurry, clearly seeing my need for coffee over the next couple of days while I dealt with the ridiculous pile of paperwork on the floor.

Standing from the floor, I grabbed my cell from my purse to find a text from Gabriel.

GABRIEL: Dinner. 7pm. You’re desert.

I chuckled and felt my cheeks pink, the memory of this morning's feast flashing in front of my eyes.

ME: Work. Boss is an ogre. Dine in my office?

I knew it wasn’t a good idea to offer to have dinner in my office but he was still my client. I could pass it off as a late meeting due to the mountain of paperwork I had to endure.



GABRIEL: Chinese it is… you’re still desert, princess.

ME: Charming you are not, Mr. Black.

GABRIEL: You’ll be taking that back the moment desert is served and devoured.



My eyes widened a little and a small gasp left my lips. I didn’t reply but I knew I’d be eating my words later while Gabriel ate me.

Eight hours, mountains of paperwork, Chinese takeout and Gabriel’s promise later, I was still in my office coming down from my Gabriel high as I tried to get through the paperwork. Unfortunately, my eyes were becoming heavy and the sight of a sheet of paper was driving me crazy. In the end I decided to call Kylie to let her know I’d be staying at the office and asked if she could bring some clean clothes for me to change into for tomorrow.

I would get through the paperwork if I had to stay up all night.





IT WAS FRIDAY, Alpha's opening night, and I was still knee-deep in paperwork. Everyone had already started leaving the office to go home and get ready for the grand event while I was still on my knees in my office, trying to sort out the paperwork.

Thankfully, I managed to run back to the apartment a couple of hours ago to grab a shower and a change of clothes but my heart had sunk. I wouldn’t have all the paperwork finished by the time I needed to go home to get ready for Alpha. I was pretty pissed. I was sure Kate had purposefully done this to stop me from going to the opening, but this time I had no idea what her motive was. I knew Gabriel wouldn’t tell her about our relationship. She was up to something and I didn’t like it.

“Oh look, Katrina, she’s on her knees again.” Clarissa pointed from my office door.

I looked up, finding them both in ball gowns and made up to the nines¸ their hair trained into perfect updos. I sighed. I ignored them, fixing my gaze back on the paperwork as I heard them snicker as they left the office.