When she finished their meal, Katherine was quick to bring her plate to the sink and started was.h.i.+ng it.
"Leave it," he said as he placed his plate on the counter.
"It"s okay, let me wash the dishes. It"s the least that I can do for staying here for the night." She glanced at him briefly with a small smile on her face.
Damien nodded and let her do what she wanted while he leaned his back on the counter and watched her. His expression was gentle yet his mind kept wondering how a tigress like Katherine turned into a mild domestic cat; he didn"t know which one he liked more.
"Why are you staring at me like that? It"s making me conscious… Are you worried that I"m going to drop your plates?" she chuckled.
"I"m not worried. You can break all of them if you want." He formed a crooked smile as he took an ap.r.o.n from the drawer.
Damien walked up behind her and instructed, "Raise your arms."
As if by nature, Katherine raised her arms up, her hands bubbled with dish soap. Damien swiftly circled his arms around her waist, his hand slightly brus.h.i.+ng as he placed the ap.r.o.n on her and then knotted the tie on her back. "You"ll get wet if you don"t wear this."
"Mhmm… thanks," she replied shyly, her cheeks faintly blushed. She wasn"t that stupid, she knew what he was doing... and it"s working.
Damien took his time in tying the knot while he stood behind her. He caught a whiff of her shampoo that had a hint of coconut scent - it was sweet, fresh but not overpowering. A gentle smile grew on his lips just as he walked away and went back to leaning against the counter. Katherine was finally able to breathe again.
"Were those the only things you have? They don"t seem a lot." He asked, referring to the bags that she had with her.
Shaking her head, she answered while she continued to wash the dirty dishes. "I still have my other things stored in my landlady"s garage. I couldn"t bring them all with me so I left it there and only brought what I needed."
"Until when were you planning to camp in my storage room?"
Katherine"s hands moved slowly as she tried to think about her answer. She finished rinsing the last dish and placed it on the drying rack before she turned to face her boss. "I was going to stay until I get the signing bonus."
"You planned to sleep in that small room until next week?" His brows furrowed. He imagined the difficult state that she was in and it only made him angry.
When Katherine nodded, he shook his head and walked towards his briefcase. His immediate plan was to write off a check for her but he stopped himself before he could even walk a few steps forward. If he gave her money, that would mean she would have to move out of his room. He turned around and stared at her again, crossing his arms in front of him as he thought of other ways on how to help her. He needed to keep her close, not push her far away!
"I don"t do advance payments. I can let you stay here until then… but," he tilted his head and inched closer garnering her full attention to his dreamy eyes. "You"d have to work for your food and accommodation. That only seems fair, right?"
Katherine averted her gaze to the side, her brain tried to convince her not to agree right away.
What if it"s a trap?
But the weaker side of her told her to say yes. "You don"t really have a choice. Would you choose the cold, dirty streets over the bed that smelled like him?" It wasn"t as if she was going to be a freeloader. "What do I have to do?" she asked.
A dangerous smile threatened to form on his devilishly handsome face as he nonchalantly answered, "I don"t know yet. I"ll come up with something." He turned around and headed towards his bedroom - smiling like a fool when Katherine could no longer see him. That should be enough to keep her by his side for now.
A few minutes later, he alighted the stairs wearing his suit coat. He was wearing all black today making him look mysterious and cool. "We need to be at the resort in an hour. Are you ready?"
Katherine shuffled towards him and nodded, "Yes."
Walking to the entrance hallway of his place, he pressed a few b.u.t.tons on the control pad and the sliding door s.h.i.+fted to the side. Just as he stepped into his office, he stopped in his tracks halting Katherine who was following him from behind.
"Jeffrey, what are you doing here so early?" he asked while he stood in place — not moving an inch. His friend was sitting on his office couch, tapping the screen of his phone and was about to answer back when Damien held his finger up quickly, "Give me a second. Wait here." He walked back inside his lair and closed the door.
Placing both of his hands on Katherine"s shoulder, he spun her around and led her to sit on the white sofa. "You can"t come out yet."
"Why? Was that Doctor Evans?" she wondered.
"Yes," he briefly answered. He wanted to protect her reputation so he planned on not telling anyone that she was staying with him — even to his close friends. And though Katherine did not hear it from him directly, she understood what he was trying to do so she could only nod and relax on the sofa.
Seeing that she did not protest, he smiled at her and patted her head. "Call the resort and tell them that we"re running late. I"ll come and get you once he leaves. Just stay here for now."
When Damien came back to his office, he closed the door and greeted his friend as soon as he sat down.
"I texted you earlier, said that I"m dropping by because I only had time this morning," Jeffrey said as he placed a folder on the coffee table. "Anyway, I only have thirty minutes until my next appointment but here…"
"What is this?" Damien took the folder and browsed through it.
"I studied her records and the doctor"s notes. But I was more interested in the time before she arrived at Spring Grove Hospital. So I called the hospital written in the file, it"s a small general hospital in the countryside and asked about her case. If we learn more about her accident, it will be easier for us to know what course or method we could do to help her regain her memories."
"And? Did you find anything about her accident? Who was driving? Where did it happen?" Damien questioned.
But to his surprise, his friend shook his head and stared back at him. "No… the hospital said they never had a patient named Katherine Miller five years ago. Not even a Jane Doe on that day."
"What do you mean? Did she go by a different name?"
"No, Damien… No patient with her records… no transfers from their hospital to SGH. I don"t even know how the accident happened and how she arrived in that hospital."
Damien brushed his hair with his fingers before he rubbed his jaw. "Are you saying her hospital records were fabricated?"
Nodding, Jeffrey Evans responded, "Possibly. It"s either that... or someone deleted her records."