Chapter 17: Strip yourself
"Get out, you pervert!" Ivy yelled and pushed him out without acknowledging that she was talking to her boss that way.
Ivy didn't know how to face Damian. She came out of the dressing room, trembling silently. She handed the bag of her underwear over to the saleslady to add it to the other things bought.
Damian stood afar off thinking of what just happened. He couldn't imagine she called him a pervert and pushed him out.
No one was allowed to treat him that way. Only Flora did and since the case was she being Flora he thought of overlooking it but couldn't. He wanted to put her in her place and show her where she belonged.
Even if he saw her like that, it wasn't like he hadn't seen her that way before. But then, he remembered something.
'Flora's scar is on her thighs. The one from the gunshot and just now.' his mind flashed back to Ivy on her underwear. He remembered seeing a scar on her thigh as well. 'Ivy has that same scar.' he thought in realization. He quickly turned and saw Ivy, her head bowed down sympathetically.
"I'm sorry." She apologized. 'I can't let him torture me again. I just want to be free.' "I shouldn't have acted that way. It's all my fault." She apologized.
Damian didn't know what to say. His mind was still thinking about the scar. He wanted to confirm it clearly. He took hold of her hand and took her to the dressing room. She didn't protest because she didn't know why he was taking her there.
"Strip yourself." He ordered.
"What!?!" Ivy exclaimed.
"You didn't hear me? I said strip your clothes off." He said harshly.
"But... " She wanted to object but then saw Damian's strict frown. He looked so serious and even if she wanted to complain he wouldn't let her off and that was only going to make meters worse.
She started taking off her dress slowly. Her hands were shaking and she was trembling with fear, his presence was intimidating her.
Damian was getting impatient, so he took it upon himself to take off her clothes, not for sightseeing of course, he just wanted to see the scar.
Ivy couldn't object but she felt so much like crying. She felt defiled but didn't know what to do. She hoped really hard that he wouldn't go too far.
What Damian did was raise her skirt to look at the scar. It was just like the scar on Flora's thigh. This gave him an assurance that she was Flora but how to make her remember was the problem.
Damian looked up and saw that Ivy's eyes were filled with tears. He did the unthinkable thing by hugging her. Ivy was surprised. She never imagined he would ask her to do such a thing and then hug her. What was he up to exactly?
He let go and adjusted his coat. He looked at her face. It looked like it would explode with questions. She looked confused so he just decided that all the surprises for the day were enough to distract her.
"Forget everything that just happened." He said and walked out.
Ivy dropped on the floor restlessly. She didn't seem to understand anything that was going on. All of a sudden he asked her to forget everything, what did he want from her?
"What can I do? What did I ever do to deserve this kind of treatment? I'm being treated like a piece of cloth. What does he want from me?" She could see herself crying ridiculously, what was there to cry about? Her tears wouldn't solve anything, not now that she was his slave and not ever when she would be his assistant.
She quickly composed herself and got up. She cleaned her tears and walked out the dressing room. Damian was waiting for her at the entrance. When she came out, she liked sad and it bothered him.
"Are you alright?" He asked and she nodded, trying to smile. "We're heading to the office now, try not to slack behind." He said as the car stopped in front of him.
Ivy noticed the things they bought were not with them, so she decided to ask.
"Where are the...?"
"Already sent to the villa." He answered and entered the car. She thought of it as embarrassing and decided not to say anything else. She got into the car quietly.
All through the ride, she sat uncomfortably, not uttering a single word. She felt tensed and unable to move. Her legs were clasped together with her hands on them. She wished so much for them to reach the company.
Damian felt the tensed atmosphere within the car and traced it to Ivy. He thought maybe she was nervous about going to the company but then observed her carefully. She kept a distance from him.
"Are you scared of me?" He asked and she shook her head.
There was something he observed. Flora usually lied to him concerning her whereabouts. Her hands would start shaking. She tried to hide it all the time but he would always find out. Right now, Ivy's hands were shaking seriously. He didn't know what came over him, he stretched his hand to hers and held them. She liked at him.
"You're scared." He said and she immediately took her hands back then looked away. The car stopped and she got out without any help.
'Am I too harsh on her?' He thought, feeling guilty for putting her in a restless situation.
He got down from the car and saw Ivy staring amusingly at the company. "Come with me." He said, walking ahead and she followed him briskly.
While they were moving, she could see the jealousy in the workers' eyes. They were mostly female workers, you'd hardly see a male worker and they all looked like they would strangle her to death. She quickly looked away to avoid negative thoughts.
They entered the elevator heading straight for his office.