In which he asks for a reward

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Julien desperately calmed his racing heartbeat and forced his brain to work.

'What reward do I want?'

He tried his best to think but the longer he stared at Knox's gray eyes, the more his thoughts veered to a dangerous direction.

Julien's gaze unconsciously drifted down to those kissable red lips and he felt heat suffused his cheeks. 'Can I ask for a kiss?'

"Mr. Alderean, we don't have much time. It's almost time to leave." Knox's calm voice resembled a bucket of freezing water that doused the flickering flame of desire in Julien's gaze.

"I'm sorry sir." Julien bit his lip and collected his thoughts back on the right track. What would he ask of Knox? The answer came unto him like a revelation. 'The ranking which Knox took!' Why didn't he think of that faster?

"Then, sir, I'd like to ask you to...." he paused and tried to think of the right word to use as he remembered they were not alone. With a stealthy glance around the silent table, Julien confirmed that almost everyone was eavesdropping while pretending to eat to their heart's content.

'What if they found out?' His stomach churned.

"That sir, I'd like to ask you to...to return 'that' to me." Julien rambled in a low voice, his cheeks dyed red in embarrassment.

Knox expression didn't change and his voice was clear that everyone heard his reply. "What do I need to return to you?"

"That 'thing' you took last week." Julien remained whispering that even Kristoff beside him couldn't understand his words.

Knox's eyes flashed with understanding. He cocked a brow and asked smoothly. "Last week? Didn't you give it to me on purpose?"

If it was possible, Julien felt heat rushed to his face and made his cheeks redder than it already was.

"NO!" His voice raised up a notch.

What was he saying?! The words Knox used were too ambiguous and steep with different meanings that it was apparent who heard it will have a misunderstanding.

The people around them looked at each other and a collective thought formed into their minds which solidified when they heard Knox's reply.

"My name was printed on it."

Shock painted the expressions of the people present and they glanced at Julien whose face was beet red and felt awe and pity for the young man who had such a difficult love and questionable preference. They all thought, how could he like such a cold and unfeeling person?. Daemon, in particular, was shaking his head and thought how unlucky his assistant was for falling for his cousin.

"It's not...that's not what it meant at all! I made a mistake that night!" Julien explained with difficulty. Unbeknownst to him, he had already been labeled as rejected and pitied by his colleagues and his sexual preference was already exposed.

Knox didn't reply for a long time. With each passing second, the tension became heavier in the air. He just stared at Julien with an unfathomable gaze that made him squirm in his seat and wished this night was just a nightmare.

"I advise you to change your request Mr. Alderean," He then stood up and straightened the imaginary wrinkles in his immaculate suit. The rest of the people followed and stood up from their seats. Julien remained seated with a befuddled expression.

"What-"

"It was already thrown away. Come to me when you think of another reward." Knox nodded curtly at all the other employees and strode out of the room.

His words struck like thunder and Julien felt his fragile heart broke at his words.

He had a painful realization, 'so it was just like trash?' The thing that bothered him all weekend was just an insignificant thing to Knox that he had thrown it away already! Julien hung his head low and wallowed in self-pity that he didn't even realize how his conversation with Knox gave away his secret already and it was surprisingly accepted smoothly by his colleagues.

The people felt a wave of pity for Julien. That night, there was a silent understanding for the employees present at that particular dinner meeting not to speak of the unrequited love between Julien and the CEO.