Opening her eyes, Katherine met his searching ones. She could feel the heat in her cheeks and she composed herself, clearing her throat as she pushed herself off of Damien.
She side-glanced the people around her before she said in a soft voice, "I thought you"re coming back tomorrow…"
"Change of plans…" he answered while observing her expression. It was not the reaction that he was hoping to see. Did he do something wrong?
Katherine swallowed. There was a mixture of happiness and disappointment in her heart. After everything they have agreed before, he suddenly disregarded all of them. And for what? To show everyone that she was his?
Damien reluctantly let go of her but remained close, still wondering what was on her mind. He had come to the resort as soon as he landed just to see her. He had sensed that she wasn"t jolly from the way she sounded the past few days while talking on the phone with her. Though she didn"t tell him she missed him, he could only hope that he was the reason why she was like that.
But why did she react the way she did earlier? He expected to see her elated. Was he mistaken and she actually didn"t miss him at all?
Turning to the side, Katherine told Matthew, "Mr. Jeong… Matt," she corrected herself when she remembered that he insisted to be called by his first name, "I apologize, I don"t think I can go with you tonight. Thank you for the invitation, though. I hope you have fun." She could barely look at him in the eye.
"Oh, Mr. Jeong," Damien uttered as though he just realized the man was standing there.
A bitter smile cast on Matthew"s face as he nodded. Putting a hand in his pocket, he responded, "It"s alright. I hope you have a good evening." Turning to Damien, he said, "President Park, it"s an honor to be part of this promotion. Thank you for the opportunity."
Damien nodded and offered an obligatory smile as he replied, "It"s our honor to have you promote this resort. Thank you for your hard work."
When Matthew left, a few of the production staff came to their side along with Crown Resort Group employees to greet President Damien Park, to which he politely returned with a smile and kind words of encouragement while keeping Katherine next to him. She thought that there was no point in hiding anymore, what excuse could she possibly have after they were caught kissing in front of everyone?
Once everyone left, the two of them walked towards the lobby with Damien walking just slightly ahead of Katherine who was biting her lip to avoid wincing in pain as her ankle had already swollen.
"Bro, you"re back," Caleb greeted Damien with a friendly slap on the shoulder. "I have to go ahead of you guys, I"ll see you tomorrow," he said before he turned to Katherine and saw the expression on her face. He had seen the entire scene awhile ago while he was on his way to the lobby. He thought that Katherine was alright until he saw the beads of sweat on her forehead and the way she limped on her feet. "Kath…"
Katherine shook her head, silently asking him not to mind it. Caleb"s gaze s.h.i.+fted to Damien before he patted his friend. "Take it easy, bro," he said before heading towards his car.
The two were about to walk away when Lexi appeared on the side. "Damien…" she called.
Annoyed, Damien shot her a glare, instantly making Lexi freeze on the spot with how cold he was at that moment. "Next time you incite something or try to spite me, make sure it"s worth my time. Otherwise, stay away and mind your own business."
Lexi who had seen the entire scene almost puked blood. How could he just kiss Katherine in front of everyone? Wasn"t he concerned about his image? The most that he did in front of others while they were together years ago was hold her hand! She had thought that she was successful in trying to drive a wedge between them but how come he reacted in that way instead? Wasn"t he supposed to be mad?
When she noticed the weird atmosphere between Damien and Katherine as they were walking in the lobby, she thought that maybe she had really affected them so she wanted to make sure that they were indeed fighting. But the way Damien told her to "get lost" was too much!
"Let"s go," Damien grabbed Katherine"s hand and pulled her with him towards his car.
She had to keep up with his long strides and after the painful journey, they finally reached his car. She had been quiet the entire time, thinking about how to talk to him as she didn"t even know if what she had in mind was even worth a discussion. It was the first time that she felt disappointed at him despite knowing what he did was only his way of expressing himself whether it was out of love or even jealousy.
After driving for a few minutes, Damien, whose mind was also clouded, finally noticed her silence. Glancing at her at the pa.s.senger"s seat, he saw her leaning on the backrest with her head turned to the window, watching the pa.s.sing trees as they have just entered a forested area.
"Is everything okay?" he asked. He slowed down and drove casually.
Katherine sighed. She was still having a mental debate whether to let it go or just tell him straight. Didn"t they say that they should be honest with each other? "Open your friggin mouth and spill it!"
"I didn"t appreciate what you did back there," she started. She had her eyes fixed on the dashboard, not wanting to look at him directly although she wanted to watch him through her peripheral vision.
Surprised by what she said, Damien glanced at her again and saw her unreadable expression. "What?"
Sighing, Katherine bit her tongue before responding, "You shouldn"t have kissed me back there."
He felt a p.r.i.c.k in his heart and his lips quirked into a mocking smile. He was starting to get mad that he laughed. " Are you serious? " he asked. He could not believe what he just heard.
She could feel the pain in his question despite the horrible masked smile he had on his face when she finally turned to face him. She knew what she said must have hurt him but he wanted her to be truthful, and that was her being truthful. "Sorry, Damien."
"There were people who weren"t supposed to see and know that we"re together!" she sighed in exasperation. She tried so hard to lower her voice but her emotions got in the way.
Realizing that their conversation was becoming serious, Damien stopped the car at the side of the road. They were still in the middle of the forest and it was about to get dark soon but there was still enough light.
Pressing the hazard mode on the dashboard, he turned to face her with a confused expression. "Who are you talking about?"
Katherine faced him with an also puzzled face. She found it hard to believe that he didn"t know who she was talking about. "There were tons of people there, Damien. The production staff, the resort employees, and the company employees!"
"Those people?" he chuckled but he clearly did not look like he was having fun. " People whose salary came from my money? "
Hearing his statement, she could not help but turn the other way and roll her eyes. She shouldn"t have started this conversation. She should have just shut her mouth and force her bitter feelings down — bury it and forget about it.
She didn"t want to have this kind of conversation. She hated it. So, she kept quiet because she didn"t want to say something that she would regret.
Not hearing any response from her, Damien added, "I thought you said that you don"t care about what they say? That you don"t care about what others say about you as long as they don"t say anything about me? Well, let me tell you again - I don"t care about what they say. I don"t give a d.a.m.n about others."
"Well, I do! Okay? I do!" she snapped. " I thought that I didn"t but apparently, I care about what others say about you and me behind my back. You don"t get to hear what the employees say while you are not around but I always hear them. Whether they know that I"m in the same room or not, I hear them. People talk — they always do. And I thought I was brave enough to ignore them but their words could get really hurtful sometimes."
Exasperated, Damien got out, walked towards the hood of the car and leaned on it. He ran both hands on his face, unsure of what they were arguing about in the first place. He was feeling mad and sad for her at the same time.
He expected to see her smiles after a few days of being away only to find them in a heated discussion soon after his arrival. He loosened his tie and heaved a heavy sigh, wondering if he should just let go of his doubts and worries. This was not what he wanted.