He snapped his fingers and a waiter appeared at our side on cue, ready to take our orders. This was a self-service cafeteria, but I supposed rules like that didn’t apply to CEOs. I opted for Japanese this time and he followed my lead, both of us ordering bento boxes and separate appetizers.
We sat at opposite ends of the booth. We couldn’t sit next to each other, not when he was my boss and I was his employee. Also, we weren’t a couple – yet.
I colored at my thoughts. Playboy, Yanna, playboy. Playboys like Constantijin didn’t do the couple thing. I had to remember that.
The waiter returned not more than a minute later, our appetizers ready, sashimi for him and kani salad for me. I split my chopsticks just as he reached out for them.
“Oops?” I said with an embarrassed smile. Was I supposed to play damsel in distress with my chopsticks?
He laughed. The sound made my toes curl. Something about Constantijin Kastein enjoying my company – with my clothes on – had butterflies fluttering their wings in my stomach.
“Itadakimasu,” I said, feeling shy all of a sudden.
“Itadakimasu,” he said in return, eyes still gleaming with laughter.
We ate our meal in silence, and I did my best not to look like I was in the middle of another gastronomic orgasm as I enjoyed my bento box, which consisted of yakimeshi rice, chicken teriyaki, and miso soup.
Constantijin broke the silence with a casual question. “Do you eat sashimi?”
I nodded, surprised.
He deftly picked a slice with his chopsticks. “Here, taste it.” His silver eyes danced with wicked laughter.
“Constantijin.” I glared at him.
But still he kept his chopsticks-held salmon in the air, patiently waiting.
“What if people see us?”
“They won’t,” he said so confidently I looked at him suspiciously.
“Why not?”
“Because I had my bodyguards bar the door.”
He what?
Constantijin murmured, “Now, please. Taste it.”
I finally opened my mouth.
As he fed me the piece of salmon, which was delicious with its icy freshness, he said softly, “Next time, I’ll be feeding you my cock.”
Oh, oh, oh, why did this man always know exactly what to say to turn me on?
I took a mouthful of water after, trying to use the time to calm myself. “Constantijin, don’t.”
“Don’t what?” he asked with such wide-eyed innocence it tempted me to smile.
“I still have a presentation tomorrow so please…no distractions?”
Constantijin said immediately, “I’m sorry. That slipped my mind. Are you nervous about it?”
Relaxing a little, I admitted, “Yes, kind of.”
The rest of the meal – and the day – passed uneventfully, and tomorrow came even before I was prepared for it. Megan took us to yet another conference room, also larger than the one we went to before. More and more, I was beginning to realize that Kastein Inc. was all about presentation, considering the gazillion of conference rooms the company seemed to have.
This conference room could comfortably seat forty, but only half of its seats were occupied. Constantijin sat at the very center, in front of his team of executives, looking gorgeous, sexy, and utterly out of my league. It made me feel like I had only dreamt about the times I spent with him.
The order of the presentation was the same. When it was my turn, I virtually used the same spiel, only this time, my presentation lasted a bit longer because of the video and additional data I had included. Constantijin never took his gaze off me, but I could also see in his face that he was listening intently – even proudly. That gave me such a huge dose of confidence I became even more enthusiastic with my presentation, cracking jokes, and getting my roomful of executives to interact.
Afterwards, Charli took over and led the round of applause our audience gave us.
Then --- and this was really a surprise --- Charli had us come back on stage. Before I knew it, we had an impromptu panel interview about our series recommendations.
"The characters are kind of young," a male executive said. "How do you propose to attract adults, parents, and so forth, to watch it?"
That was a tough one. In the corner of my eye, I saw a tiny smirk on Arian's face. Grrr. That witch! "Well, I could have the advertisement for the teaser start with a line like 'Remember how it felt when you first fell in love'? Because no matter how old we get, we never forget our first love, first kiss, even our first heartbreak, no matter how much we try to forget it."
The crowd thankfully laughed at my quip.
I continued, "And that's what Hana Kimi is all about. Everybody likes to reminisce about those lovely firsts, and this series gives them that opportunity. Even better, it gives people with bad memories something better to replace them by."
The executive smiled. "Good point."
I wanted to look at Constantijin and see if he approved, too, but I dared not. Instead, I thanked the executive shyly and looked at Charli for confirmation. She gave me a thumbs-up sign.
Charli took over the stage again when the panel interview ended half an hour later. "Now, didn't I tell you I hired a great marketing team for us?" she boasted, and everyone laughingly agreed.
George and I happily hugged each other when Charli officially ended our presentation. Both of us looked for Arian to congratulate her, but we need not have bothered, not when she was already getting the best congratulatory message from none other than Constantijin himself.
Arian drew close to Constantijin as she spoke, her br**sts heaving with every deep-throated laugh she released.
“Oh my God, the bitch,” George muttered.
I shook my head. "Not really. I mean, they're both single."
He looked at me like I was insane. "But you like him!"
I struggled with that. If George could so easily see through me, could others do so as well? Finally, I mumbled, “It’s just a dumb crush.”
Or at least I hoped so.
Tuesday to Thursday were peaceful and utterly boring, with Constantijin nowhere in sight. Through the office grapevine, I learned that he had to fly back to his home country for a get-together with his family.
On Friday, I took advantage of the no-office-attire rule to dress up in a black knee-length dress, made distinct by its high collar, bell-shaped sleeves, and scooped back. I felt like I had been neglecting myself lately – or at least ever since I saw Arian flirting with Constantijin and him not doing a thing to stop her.
Should he have stopped her? Did I have the right to care? I hated how I constantly thought about these questions and hated the fact even more that I didn’t know the answers to them.