Chapter 3
It was two p.m., and the afternoon sun was getting to its zenith.
Catherine was just returning from her appointment with the new client.
As she was heading towards her office, the secretary called her attention and informed her that Mr. Daniel wanted to see her.
"Who's Mr. Daniel?" she asked the secretary.
"The senior manager," the secretary replied.
She was surprised to hear that because, since she started working in the company, she had never set her eyes on him because he rarely came to the company, and if he actually came around, it was only to drop off some documents for them to work on, and afterwards he disappeared.
"Where's his office?" Catherine asked the secretary, and immediately the secretary directed her to the office.
Without hesitating, she followed the directions of the secretary and went to the office.
Once she reached there, she placed a soft knock on the door, and immediately a voice ordered from behind the door, "Come in," and immediately she opened the door and walked in slowly.
Once she went in, she saw a young man, possibly in his twenty-third year.
He was fair in corpulence, with black coiled hair and a little bearded beard.
All his attention was on the computer in front of him, as he kept tapping on the keyboard while ignoring the presence of Catherine.
"Good morning, sir," Catherine greeted him in order to signal her presence.
"Oh, there you are," he replied, stealing a glance at Catherine, who stood some meters away from his table. "So you are the new marketing manager, right?" he asked her before returning his gaze back to the screen of the computer.
"Yes, sir," Catherine replied.
"Hope you are as good as the previous marketing manager." He asked her with his gaze still fixed on the screen of the computer, but Catherine remained silent.
"Well, I don't care," he replied. I only wanted to know the new marketing manager that my brother employed," he said to Catherine with his eyes still fixed on the screen of the computer, and immediately Catherine's eyes widened because she didn't imagine that he was Jerry's brother because he was totally different from Jerry, even in the way he expressed himself arrogantly.
"You are free to go," he said to Catherine.
But as she turned to start leaving, he called her back.
"Get rid of this coffee for me, please; it's already cold," he pleaded, pointing at the cup of coffee on his table, and immediately Catherine walked towards his table to take the cup.
As she was taking the cup, it mistakenly slipped from her hand, and as she was trying to catch it, some drops of the coffee fell on Daniel's white shirt, and immediately he got infuriated.
"What's the meaning of this?" he yelled angrily, hitting the cup of coffee that she was holding with her two hands, and immediately the remaining recipient in the cup splashed on her red gown.
"Get out of my office!" he ordered her angrily, and immediately Catherine quickly ran out of his office with tears streaming down her face.
As she opened the door of his office, she ran into Jerry, who was heading to his office, and immediately he held her left arm and drew her back.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked while looking at her gown that was stained with black coffee.
Catherine remained silent, tears streaming down her face.
"It's Daniel, right?" Jerry inquired angrily, but Catherine stared at him for some seconds with tears in her eyes before withdrawing her arm from his grip, and immediately she started running towards her office.
Jerry walked angrily towards Daniel's office, and without knocking, he barged angrily inside the office.
Once he barged in, Daniel looked at him angrily.
"Can't you knock before getting in?" Daniel asked him angrily.
"Have you gone nuts?" Jerry asked him angrily.
"Meaning?" Daniel asked Jerry angrily while standing up from his chair.
"What just happened here between you and Catherine?" Jerry inquired angrily.
"Ooh, is that why you barged into my office like that because of a simple employee?" Daniel asked Jerry angrily.
"Answer my question!" Jerry barked angrily.
Daniel remained silent for a few seconds before replying.
"Well, I only asked her to help me get rid of this cup of coffee, but she carelessly stained my shirt with it," Daniel replied, pointing at the little stain on his shirt.
"And that's why you stained her whole gown with it, right?" Jerry inquired, still fuming in anger.
"Yes," Daniel replied without feeling any remorse.
"I hope you know I'm the CEO of this company."
"And then what?" Daniel asked angrily. "If you are the CEO, then what?" Daniel repeated.
"As the CEO, I can employ and fire anyone I want," he said to Daniel, and immediately he went mute. "If what took place here ever repeats itself again with any of the employees, then I will decide your future in this company," Jerry threatened angrily before heading towards the door.
Daniel kept staring at Jerry as he started heading towards the door. He tried to talk, but the words weren't coming.
He knew Jerry was a man of action; he talked less and acted more, and he dared not take his patience for granted.
Once Jerry opened the door, he turned his gaze toward Daniel.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," he said to Daniel angrily before banging the door.
Daniel was lost in his thoughts because he knew if he did any other rubbish, Jerry would surely fire him, but what he still couldn't figure out was why Jerry got so upset just because of what he did to her.
Once Jerry banged on the door while exiting the office, he jerked back to reality.
"Damn it," he muttered angrily while crashing everything on his table to the ground except for his computer.
Once Jerry left Daniel's office, he started heading towards Catherine's office.
Once he reached her office, he placed a soft knock on her door.
"Come in," Catherine ordered from behind the door, and immediately he opened the door and went in.
When he walked in, he noticed that Catherine had been crying since then, and she was trying to clean her eyes when he came in.
"Hey Catherine, don't tell me you are still crying," Jerry said to Catherine.
Catherine raised her head slowly and looked at Jerry before lowering her head once again without replying to him.
"Look, Catherine, I'm sorry for what he did to you, and I promise you that what happened today won't repeat itself again," Jerry said to Catherine reassuringly, and she nodded without replying.
Jerry walked toward her and removed his suit.
"Put this on; it will cover the stained side a little, Jerry said to Catherine while handing the suit to her.
Catherine stared at him in surprise.
"Come on, take it and stop staring at me like a ghost, or do you want to go home and change the gown?" he asked Catherine, and she shook her head in disagreement while collecting the suit from him.
"I can't go home now; I still have a lot of
There are things to take care of," Catherine said to Jerry while struggling to put on the suit.
"Let me help you with that," Jerry suggested while collecting the suit from Catherine.
He went behind her and helped her into the suit.
"The suit looks good on you," he complimented Catherine, and she faked a smile.
"I will take you home in the evening after work. We will also discuss our agreement during the ride," he said to Catherine and she nodded without replying.
"By the way, I'm sorry again for what my brother did to you." Jerry said this to Catherine while heading towards the door, and Catherine nodded without replying.
"Thanks for the suit," Catherine replied while avoiding Jerry's gaze.
"Don't mention it, please," Jerry replied before exiting the office. There are things to take care of," Catherine said to Jerry while struggling to put on the suit.
"Let me help you with that," Jerry suggested while collecting the suit from Catherine.
He went behind her and helped her into the suit.
"The suit looks good on you," he complimented Catherine, and she faked a smile.
"I will take you home in the evening after work. We will also discuss our agreement during the ride," he said to Catherine and she nodded without replying.
"By the way, I'm sorry again for what my brother did to you." Jerry said this to Catherine while heading towards the door, and Catherine nodded without replying.
"Thanks for the suit," Catherine replied while avoiding Jerry's gaze.
"Don't mention it, please," Jerry replied before exiting the office.