DAWN
"Oh, did you see the new CEO? He's so goddamn hot." Julie, my colleague who sits at the desk next to mine, tries to get my attention while I stare lazily at my computer screen. "You should see him, Dawn. Your jaw will literally hit the floor.""So, that's the new guy, right?" I ask without looking up. "The new head in the management? Why did they change the old CEO? He was kind of nice. Disagreeable, but nice.""Well, the old head in management got caught redhanded embezzling millions from the company, but he did it quite smartly over the period of five years, so the chairman of the Waugh Industries decided to move him to a different sister company." She bares her teeth as she smiles. "It was a quick move to keep matters hush and utilize his talents for free till he pays back the company every cent he owes." Julie shakes her head, rubbing the tip of her nose. "I've also heard that it was an inside settlement, and he agreed, so he doesn't go to jail.""I can't believe it." I lick my lips, finally looking up to meet her eyes. "That sounds straight from an episode of the show Law, Order, and Punishment.""Well, whatever that is," she scoffs, rolling her eyes. "I walked in this morning to Mr Waugh's office to submit files for my annual appraisal, and oh my god, he has the most handsome blue eyes I've ever laid my eyes on." She sighs dreamily. "And his business suit accentuated his muscles, and that smile, oh my god, that smile, it really killed me. I almost couldn't breathe, Dawn."Yawning big, I put a hand over my mouth."Catch a hold of yourself, Jules, before you fall for this man and get ignored in the end like you did the last time with our project manager." I run a hand over my forehead. "I'm so sleepy. So sleepy that I can't even keep my eyes open."Jules hits the top of my shoulder playfully over my remark before resting her face on the palm of her hand while she talks to me."What were you busy doing last night?"Smiling from ear to ear at her question, I shake my head."That's none of your business.""Come on, tell me." She bats her eyes comically. "You have to tell me things too, you know?" Julie stares at my face. "Since I tell you everything."I shrug my shoulders."I was just up late reading last night." I offer her a small smile. "There's nothing to tell."Julie puts her hands up defensively, nodding her head."All right, whatever." She smirks. "I am going for a coffee refill. Do you want me to bring you some?"I give her another nod."Thanks, Jules.""Sure thing."I watch her walk outside of our office room, sashaying her hips.Maybe the new CEO will take an interest in her.She's pretty.She might even have a decent chance with him.But only if she keeps her big mouth shut.Then I slowly release a harsh breath. Shaking my head, I think I was this close to divulging everything to her.I don't have to come clean to anyone.I can definitely keep a secret since it's my private life.Fiona, our new project manager, knocks on the door before barging into the office room. She walks straight up to me and starts talking."When are you going to submit the files for the annual appraisal?" Her eyes dance around the room. "I think Julie is done with hers. Why don't you go around noon when Mr Waugh is free for fifteen minutes? Just make sure to show up before he breaks for lunch. I'm trying to ensure that everyone on our team gets done with theirs before lunch."I nod at her, agreeing with her suggestion."Oh sure, I'll go see him right before lunch." I check the time on my computer's digital clock. "So I still have like an hour before I have to see him?"She hems and haws before she comes up with a reply."Oh yeah, right. Patrick is seeing him in his office right now.""All right then.""Why don't you finish the graphics for our new marketing strategy? I need to present that during our afternoon meeting with the CEO." She smiles sharply at me with an air of arrogance about her. "Not going to lie. I want to leave a good impression on our CEO. He seems like a man who appreciates his coworkers. And I want our team to be in his good books."I scoff in my mind, but in front of her, I genuinely nod with a soft smile."I'll do my best."After saying that, Fiona disappears from the office room. So I open another file in the graphic design editor tool on my computer and start tinkering around with this faint idea in my head.There are a series of knocks on my door, and I don't look up from the screen as I'm still trying to adjust the right tone of greyscale on the editing screen. I hear the person step in, and I take it as Jules stepping back from her break. I wait for her to put the steaming cup of coffee on the desk, but she doesn't do so. As I'm about to question her about my coffee refill, a familiar voice makes me almost jump in my seat."Excuse me, weren't you supposed to see me in my office for your annual appraisal?"The voice belongs to the same person I had spent the entirety of the last night with and ended up marrying at the beginning of this weekday morning before coming to work. I close my eyes for a long minute, wondering if I'm hearing noises rising from deep in my subconscious.The person clears their throat again as they stand next to me.It can't be him.Squeezing my eyes shut, I pray for divine intervention.No.No way.It can't be my new husband.There's no way it's Kyle.He can't be here.He said that he's going to work at his firm, and as far as I know, the chairman of this firm is a wrinkly-faced old bastard.It's not him.It can't be him.No.No way.Chanting the mantra in my head, I pivot my back on my ergonomic chair and slowly open my eyes, only to have my jaw hit the floor. Literally and figuratively. Just like Julie had mentioned not more than fifteen minutes ago.Standing in front of me is my day-old husband, Kyle. No, scratch that. It's only been a few hours. He stares at me with kind eyes, passion burning behind his blue orbs. I can do nothing but hold his gaze, sighing softly.For a long minute, that's all we do.He stares at me, and I stare at him.Am I really on an episode of Bamboozled?Finally breaking the stare, I immediately look around for hidden cameras. But I'm disappointed to find my office the same as when I left work last Friday. Kyle keeps staring at me like we are in some staring contest. He doesn't back down. As I'm still trying to wrap my head around the situation, Jules appears at the door with two hot coffee mugs in hand."Dawny, you won't believe what I had to do for the extra whipped--"She stills in her steps as she registers who is standing in the middle of our office room. She stops talking and gazes at Kyle's silhouette, her eyes widening in surprise. Then finally, she steps into the room and again stops in her tracks. This time she notices Kyle is looking straight at me as if he's in a trance.Putting my gaze back on Kyle's face, I clear my throat. Our eyes meet, and I'm confident mine holds a thousand questions in them.If he really is the new fucking CEO, then we have to sort out some things.I'm dying to hear if he thinks marrying an employee of his company is some kind of a pathetic joke.Or is it a genuine mistake?Maybe he didn't know that I work for his company.Finally, Kyle breaks our staring match and pivots on his feet to take notice of Julie standing near the entrance. He looks at her and gives her a curt nod before pivoting back to face me."Ms Brooks, right?" He asks with a poker face. "You need to join me in the office for the annual appraisals. Come see me in ten minutes."I nod."Yeah, sure." I clear my throat. "I'll be right there."Then, Kyle pivots on his feet again without another word and makes his way to the entrance of the office room, ignoring Julie with two hot mugs, who steps out of his way quickly.DAWN"Well, what was that about?" Julie paces around the room and then steps next to me, setting the two cups on the table. "He looks like he knew you or something. He stood right there in the middle of the office and watched you for like a minute, I swear." She points at the space between the desks and the door. "Do you know him from somewhere, Dawn?"Pulling the mug by the cup handle gingerly towards me, I shake my head."I don't think so." Then I present my opposition to the idea with more zeal. "Of course not! What business do I have to rub elbows with the firm's CEO? I got to be crazy or something in the head for even entertaining the idea.""Geez. Calm down." Julie rolls her eyes. "I was just asking, Dawny. You don't have to take everything I say to heart.""Oh, okay, fine," I add in a dismissive tone, and Julie takes the hint. "I got to concentrate on work. Fiona needs these graphics in like an hour or two."In the back of my mind, I turn the idea of Kyle knowing me from somewh
DAWNI punch the send 'button' on my email, and it sends the folder with the newly designed graphics to the team lead, Fiona's business email. She needs the folder for the afternoon meeting. Just processing the thought of showing up to the business meeting in the back of my mind, knowing that Kyle will be there, sends shivers down my spine.Why did he have to work for my company?Well, scratch that.Why did I have to work for his firm?Why couldn't I have found a better job elsewhere?And why does my new husband also have to be my new boss?As I'm busy formulating these thoughts in my head, Fiona knocks on my door, putting her steely gaze on me. My eyes snap from my computer's screen to meet hers."What's going on, Dawn?" She clears her throat. "Didn't I ask you to go and see the new CEO soon?" Then she shakes her head, looking down at me as she crosses her arms across her chest. "What are you going to do about your bad memory? I had reminded you to see the new CEO in his office for a
DAWNDriving home in my car, I have thoughts spinning in my mind.Was marrying Kyle such a great idea?What kind of husband would he be to me?Have I made some mistake marrying a stranger without knowing much about him?Taking the next U-turn as I pull the car up a deserted lane that connects to the highway, I sigh. Kyle had sent me messages after the meeting to invite me. He wants me to come to see him at his home tonight. Moreover, Kyle's words give me a feeling about him wanting to get to know each other better since, in his messages, he asserted that I should stay the night and give this marriage a shot. And like a fool, I replied to his messages while I saved his home address when he sent it to me and looked it up on the online navigation maps. Then I sulked for another hour at my desk before leaving for the night. Now, I'm taking the highway which leads to the house on the outskirts of our city.Maybe I should follow his lead.And give this thing a try.Even if it irks me that h
DAWN“And I’m sorry.”His words grip me with surprise a third time this evening.“What are you sorry for exactly?” With my harsh words, I put my eyes on the floor because I don’t know how to face him. “I just want to know why you are apologising to me.”“Let’s just say that my harsh attitude and how I go about things have been far from appropriate.” He gazes at me with fierceness in his eyes. “I don’t want you to think I don’t care about you or you aren’t important to me. It’s just that things happen at work, and I can barely control everything.”“I can understand that.”He glances at me expectantly.“Can you?”I bob my head a few times, weighing his words in the back of my mind.In a way, I do understand how he feels.And where he's coming from in this situation since he’s also the head of an organisation?There are so many things at play here.He must be troubled about his private life making the rounds in the company.The legitimate fear of his employees spending their free time te
DAWNAfter the quick but enjoyable hot shower, I put on the pyjamas and tread downstairs to the kitchen. I follow Kyle's cooking noises and the noise of him putting a pan over the fire. The moment I step into the kitchen, I see Kyle perched over an electric stove, stirring some sauce in a big pot.Is he a great cook?Have I randomly lucked into a husband that can cook dinners?Even though I lied and made my intentions for helping him out in the kitchen known, I think I have left out some crucial information from the conversation.The fact is I'm not a great cook.I can barely cook anything more than heating eggs and making the random batch of instant noodles that I can find lying in the back of my cupboard."It smells good.""Does it?" Kyle looks up from the simmering pot in front of him. "I just added some cilantro and thyme to the sauce. I settled on making shrimp pasta." Then he brings the sauce ladle to his lips. "Hmm. . .I think the sauce tastes good.""The dish sounds like a nic
DAWN"How are you finding the pasta?" Kyle pushes the plate of side dishes towards me. I didn't know when he found the time to pickle some fresh vegetables, but he did find time to do that. "Would you like some more of the salad? We have more than enough," he passes me the salad bowl and the pesto dish, "so please help yourself."I wrap another string of pasta around my fork and bring it to my mouth. "It tastes delicious. You were not lying about your cooking skills." My comment earns a scoff that slips easily from Kyle's lips. His reaction makes me chuckle. "And to be honest, I'm eating so well tonight. Usually, I'll munch on any leftovers from the lunch I'll hurriedly cook for myself in the mornings or the night before, and I rarely make salads that look like this." I point to the salad bowl. "My salads are rarely this green or appetising." In my head, the word 'impostor' twinkles in bright neon lights as if it's a beer sign since I'm not talking about the absence of my cooking skil
DAWNI lie there nervously in Kyle's bed with my arms around my head, waiting in anticipation of what's about to happen. I know what he said. But is everything going to be okay between us if we sleep in the same bed?Will we be able to control ourselves?Will he be able to keep his hands off of me?Will I be the person who makes the first move?The question hounds me as I twist and turn under the soft duvet to make myself more comfortable. My nerves flare, and I wonder what spending the night in Kyle's room will be like since I haven't spent a night in a man's bed before. Sleep is still a far-fetched dream since my body feels as if it's on fire with want and expectation.I should have slept in the guest room to avoid feeling like a desperate moron.Tossing again under the duvet to adjust my body to a more comfortable position, I hear footsteps coming towards the room. I abruptly close my eyes to fake falling asleep. Kyle shouldn't know that I haven't had a wink of shuteye since I step
DAWNWhile I hear Kyle take another shower in the morning, I can't help but hide under the duvet. I can't bring myself to get out of bed because that means I have to run into Kyle again.Can my life get any more embarrassing?What have I done?How will I be able to face him today?The icing on the cake is that I work with him, and he's my boss.My husband is my goddamned boss.I still cannot believe it.Should I move to the guest room and hide in there?As I'm thinking these thoughts, Kyle comes out of the washroom with a towel wrapped around his chiselled torso. The moment he steps into the room, he stares confidently at me.The air in the room changes and I feel like I'm around no one other than my boss, and the situation reminds me of yesterday's afternoon meeting. The same boss who's also standing in front of me, half-naked. And I don't know how to feel about this.Is he doing this on purpose?"Aren't you going to shower and get ready for work?" He has a spare towel around his nec