by Siren Allen
“And this is Lee Seo-Yun. He works in our marketing department.”
Lee nodded to the crowd. Willow’s gaze rose from the table. A slight smile crossed over her face as she eyed Lee. Of course, she’d be interested in someone from marketing. Jealousy raced through his veins. Kang glared at Lee. Lee frowned, but said nothing. Kang cleared his throat before addressing the crowd again.
“My team and I will be monitoring your performance over the next few weeks. Each of you will have an evaluation done by me while I’m in the States. If your performance during this time is not up to standard, I will have no choice but to let you go. I hope from this moment on, all of you will work hard to make this office and your local RC department stores as profitable and respected as those in other regions. Now that you’ve met me and my staff, please return to your departments and continue with your daily duties.”
Kang watched his employees quickly retreat from the room. He shoved his hands into his pockets as Willow, followed by her two friends, stood to leave. His eyes remained on her until she exited the room. She hadn’t looked back, not once.
Shao bumped his shoulder. “You’re going to stare a hole into her.”
“Shut up, Shao.”
Shao chuckled. “I’m glad I’ve finally gotten a chance to see this Willow person in person,” Shao whispered. “I can see why you still haven’t gotten over her.”
Kang gritted his teeth but said nothing until everyone had left the room and the door shut behind them. Then, he faced Shao.
“I’m not in love with her.”
Shao folded his arms over his chest. “I didn’t say you were. I said you haven’t gotten over her. But, we all know you love Willow. If you didn’t, we wouldn’t be here. Did I mention I don’t want to be here?”
“You have. Over and over and over...”
“Yet, I’m still here. Because you want a chance to be the boss of the woman who turned you down.”
“That’s not...”
“You’ve dragged us to the States. I’m not even a full-time employee at RC. I design jewelry. I only help out in your IT department when you guys have web security issues. And I only do that because you insist on it.”
“You were a computer major who graduated at the top of his class. You should enjoy working in our IT department.”
“I enjoy designing jewelry more. Now, you may as well be honest with us about why we have to suffer here with you. Poor Nahm is going to suffer the most. You know his English isn’t that good. Yet, you insist we only speak English while we’re here.”
Nahm threw a folder at Shao. “My English is perfect. I went to college in New York. It’s Lee who’s going to suffer the most. There’s a lot of beautiful women who work here. You know he becomes a mute in the presence of beautiful women.”
Kang grinned at Lee.
Lee shook his head. “Nahm, quit talking nonsense. Let’s get to work, the sooner we get this office back on track for madam Kang, the sooner we can leave here. I have my own department to get back to. Where do you want to start Kang?”
Kang massaged his chin and pretended to think the question over. He knew exactly where he wanted to start. Willow’s department. Once he said that, his friends were going to give him flack.
“There’s a meeting in an hour. The marketing team is going to present their ideas for their summer marketing plan. This is my chance to see...”
“Willow,” Shao stated. “This is your chance to see Willow. Just say it.”
“This is my chance to see them in action. I can evaluate their...”
“Kang...” Shao swiped his hand over his face. “I have more important things to do than be here while you pine over and torture the woman you love.”
“I do not love Willow.”
“Oh really?” Nahm asked. “I met you right after you moved back to Korea. I know what you were like after she rejected you.”
Kang stared at the clock. He didn’t like thinking about those days. He especially didn’t like talking about them.
“You were a mess. And even though you say you’re over her, we can tell you’re not. The proof is in your dating history. You never date a woman for more than three months.”
Because after a while, my heart rejects them, because they’re not her.
Kang shrugged. “I get bored easily.”
“You’ve never met the parents of the girls you’ve dated nor have you introduced them to your mother.”
My mother loves Willow just as much as I do.
“I’m busy. My mother is busy. Your point?”
“Half of the women you date, you don’t even sleep with.”
Because it feels like I’m cheating on her. “You don’t know that.”
“I know because they like to ask us questions after you dump them. Like, does Kang have an issue down there? You know how embarrassing it is to be asked about another man’s junk?”
“I don’t have any problems down there. Unlike you, I don’t have to fuck every female I date.”
“That’s not fair. I don’t fuck every female I date. Just ninety-six percent of them.”
Lee started to laugh at Nahm. So, did Shao. It wasn’t long before they were all laughing at Nahm’s foolishness.
“Seriously...” Kang sobered up first. “This marketing meeting was already scheduled for today. We may as well sit in on it to see what plan they’re coming up with. Lee, you’re my marketing genius. I need you to work with them to get this summer line together. It’s already May and we don’t have an exhibit for the Fourth of July display. I don’t need a repeat of what happened with their winter collection.”
Lee shuddered. “It was a disaster.”
“Which is why we should sit in on this meeting.”
Lee nodded. “I agree. Hey, while we’re here, we’ll have our own offices, right?”
“We each have an office on the executive floor. Come on, I’ll show you to your spaces before the meeting starts.”
His team followed him out the room. As they journeyed to the executive floor, they were greeted by each person they passed. They simply nodded and kept it moving. On more than one occasion, Kang heard someone whisper that they were rude.
He wasn’t there to make friends. When he reached the executive floor, the secretary there rushed to show them to their offices. Kang told her there was no need. He left her standing near the elevator with a confused expression on her face.
Kang showed the others to their offices. After telling them to meet him in forty-five minutes, Kang retreated to his own office. Seated behind his desk, he sighed as he relaxed in his seat. Head back, he stared up at the ceiling.
He was in the States again, near Willow again. He’d even dreamed about her last night. As usual, his dreams were filled with all the erotic fantasies he’d never get a chance to experience with her.
Throughout the years, he’d nutted more in his sleep than he had when awake. It was all Willow’s fault. Just thinking of last night’s dream had his cock growing hard. It also pissed him off, because he knew he’d never be able to kiss her the way he had in his dream.
Nor would he be able to taste her pussy the way he had in his dreams. Would she taste as sweet as he’d imagined? He’d never know. She’d never ride his face until her thighs quivered. Nor would she ever scream his name the way she did in his dreams.
And he’d never get a chance to fuck her until she was breathless. He’d never get to fuck her until her body shuddered and her pussy clenched his dick as she succumbed to a powerful orgasm that only he could deliver.
And he’d never get a chance to hold her afterward, as their bodies floated down from cloud nine. He’d never get a chance to whisper ‘I love you’ in her ear while she lay snuggled up in his embrace. And he’d never get a chance to hear her whisper those words back to him.
Kang swiped his hand over his face. “What the fuck am I doing here?”
He closed his eyes and for the hundredth time that day, he wondered if coming there was a good idea. He’d
promised his mother he wouldn’t say anything crazy to Willow. She’d made him promise he wouldn’t bully her.
Him? A bully? Never.
Just because he was no longer friendly with Willow didn’t mean he was a bully to her. It was just that the sight of her irritated him. Angered him. Everything about her pissed him off. Yet, everything about her also turned him on.
From the way she wore her hair to the way she dressed. Did she do it for attention? This was her work place. Why did she need to wear clothes that hugged her frame like that? And why did she have to smile at her co-workers when they spoke to her?
She was doing it on purpose to piss him off. Shit like that was the reason why he usually ended up saying things to her that got him branded as a bully. Opening his eyes, he sat up in his seat.
He didn’t come here to waste his time thinking about a woman from his past. He came to launch a new future for the Atlanta office of Royal Cosmetics. Kang swiveled around in his seat and faced his desk.
He pulled up the evaluation file on his computer and clicked on the Marketing Department tab. He scrolled down the list of names. There was a total of eleven employees working in the marketing department, including the marketing director and her secretary.
Eleven employees. And none of them could come up with a seasonal campaign that would draw in customers and generate the amount of sales they needed. He had a feeling he’d be cutting that department in half. He stopped scrolling when he reached Willow’s name.
Willow Thompson. Twenty-eight years old. Graduated from GSU with a degree in Business.
Back in college, she’d had dreams of starting her own company. She’d wanted to be her own boss. When that failed, she asked her mother to ask his mother to hire her. He hated people who used their connections to move up in the world.
He’d thought Willow was different. He was wrong. She was just like everyone else. Kang clicked out of the file. Fuck. Thinking about her selfish ass always made him angry. Since coming to the company, she hadn’t done one thing to benefit RC.
He’d gone over her file many times. All of her proposals had been rejected. And even when she was allowed to help with other campaigns, none of her ideas shined brighter than the other people participating.
In his opinion, Willow was a weak link. However, if he fired her, his mother and her mother, who was like an aunt to him, would think he was firing her because of the bad blood between the two of them.
This marketing meeting was his chance to prove to their parents that Willow wasn’t cut out for this job. She’d be better off working at the sales counter in one of their department stores.
Knock. Knock.
Kang looked up. “Come in.”
The executive floor secretary entered the room. She smiled shyly and pushed her blonde hair behind her ear.
“Mr. Kang, I know everyone on this floor was introduced to you earlier. But, I didn’t have a chance to tell you that if you need anything from me, please let me know. I used to help the previous GM out a lot. I’m willing to help you out also.”
“Thank you, Ms. Lynn. If I need help with anything, I’ll let you know.”
Ms. Lynn nodded. Her blue eyes remained glued on him. He knew that look. He didn’t have time for that look.
“Is there anything else you need, Ms. Lynn?”
“Oh, no sir. I’ll return to my desk now.”
Kang nodded. Ms. Lynn backed out of the room. On her way out, she bumped into his three friends who were heading to his office. His office door was still slightly ajar. He could hear Ms. Lynn apologizing to Shao, Nahm and Lee. Seconds later, the trio entered his office.
“She’s a pretty one,” Shao said when he neared Kang’s desk. “I’m pretty sure she helped Mr. Su both at the office and outside the office.”
“You’re right about that.” The executive floor needed a secretary who was there to do her job, not one who wanted to sleep around with her bosses.
“Is she on your list of employees who are going to be fired?” Lee asked.
Kang nodded. “I believe she’s the one who leaked the information on Mr. Su.”
“Oh, she’s the one who posted the picture online? Did he tell you that when you talked to him on the phone?”
“He said he didn’t know if it was her for sure. But he suspects it’s her. They’d been sleeping together. His wife found out, so he tried to dump Ms. Lynn. Yet, she wouldn’t let him go. She kept showing up places where he and his wife were. She kept sending him emails, threatening to expose his other sex partners to his wife. One of those sex partners was the underage girl he was caught with.”
“I don’t feel sorry for that prick. Mr. Su. Sleeping with underage girls and cheating on his wife. He deserves to lose everything.”
“I agree. Mr. Su will get no sympathy from me. Neither does Ms. Lynn. Mr. Su said he wasn’t the only employee she’s blackmailed. I can tell she’s going to be a problem in the future. I want to eliminate all problems while I’m here. I just need better proof that she’s a problem,” Kang responded while glancing at his watch. “The meeting will start soon. Let’s go.” Kang stood and grabbed his folder from his desk.
On the way to the elevators, Secretary Lynn smiled at them. Kang watched her knock her pen off her desk then stand up and bend down to pick it up, with her ass facing them. Her short skirt rose up a notch. Kang looked away.
“Is that the proof you need?” Shao asked.
“That’s part of it. But I need solid proof, so that she won’t be able to sue us over letting her go.”
“So, you need her to blackmail someone. You want me to help?”
“Yes.” The elevator doors opened. Kang stepped inside. He’d let Shao work on getting Ms. Lynn fired.
And he’d work on getting Willow fired.
Chapter Three
Why was he there?
Willow’s hands shook as she entered the conference room. Why was Kang and his three grim reapers seated at the table along with Olivia and her secretary. Also seated at the table were the other marketing teams who was there to present their ideas for the summer campaign.
Normally, Willow wasn’t nervous during presentations. She was confident in her work and in her team. Even though they always got looked over, she knew they presented good ideas.
However, with Kang seated there, glaring at her with those hawk eyes, she couldn’t help but feel nervous. This was not going to end well. Suddenly nauseous, Willow swallowed the lump in her throat and took a seat next to Dez.
She tried to fight it, but her eyes involuntarily strayed to Kang. Luckily, he was taking a sip from his cup, so he didn’t see her watching him. It had to be a sin to look that damn good. Why couldn’t he have aged horribly?
Why couldn’t he have put on fifty pounds since last year and lost all of his hair? Instead, he looked better. She couldn’t believe she’d almost told him the truth at his mother’s party. She was glad he’d yelled at her before she got the chance.
Olivia stood and walked to the front of the room. “Now that we’re all here, I have an announcement to make.”
Olivia’s high pitch voice always irritated Willow. Could anyone else tell that the smile on the woman’s face was forced?
“The interim GM, Mr. Kang, has decided to sit in on this marketing meeting. I’m sure each of us are happy to have him and his team here with us this morning.”
Not! Willow forced herself not to roll her eyes. It was a hard task to accomplish, but she managed. Barely. She chanced a glance at Kang, only to find him glaring at her. Bastard. Willow lowered her gaze.
All she had to do was make it through this presentation with no mishaps. Oh, and try not to look at Kang. If she looked at him, she’d get nervous and probably end up stuttering. She didn’t have time for that.
“Without further ado, I’d like to call the first presenters to the front. Tyler, will you and your team please share with us your summer campaign ideas.”
Tyler and his team approached the front. They
asked everyone to open the red folders in front of them. As Tyler and his team presented their proposal, Willow flipped through their folder.
It was garbage. Tyler’s team wanted to focus the campaign around holiday beverages. What type of shit was that? Willow flipped to the next page that introduced flavored lip glosses.
Tyler’s campaign was centered around lip glosses. Each lip gloss was named after the beverage it represented. Which was a cute idea, but it was one his team had done many times before.
During the winter holidays, Tyler’s team came up with pumpkin spice lip gloss, red velvet cake lip gloss and blue berry pie lip gloss. The campaign had done okay. But it hadn’t wowed the customers.
“In June,” Tyler continued with his presentation. “We’d like to go to our local RC store and give out samples of our lip glosses. We’d like to have a table set up where customers can try and guess the flavors.”
They’d been there, done that. It was the same thing at every proposal. That didn’t stop Olivia from clapping like she was trying to kill a family of mosquitos after Tyler’s team finished their presentation.
“Well done, well done,” Olivia congratulated the team. “I love the idea of snow cone flavored lip glosses. My favorite snow cone flavor is wedding cake. I would love to have a lip gloss with that flavor. Good job team.”
The rest of the room clapped for Tyler and his team. Dez leaned close to whisper to Willow.
“That team doesn’t have an original idea in their body.”
Willow nodded.
“Interim GM, what do you think of Tyler’s proposal?”
Kang finished writing something on his notepad before passing it to the gentleman next to him. Willow had already forgotten two of their names. Lee was the only name she remembered.
And that was only because he was part of Kang’s marketing team and someone Willow wanted to chat with before he left the States. Kang kept looking straight forward at nothing in particular as his team passed the notepad around.
When the notepad reached Kang again, he turned to Olivia. “Do you think this proposal was a good one?”
Smiling, Olivia nodded. “The chart in the folder Tyler and his team gave us states that their target audience is teenage girls. I believe teenagers love lip gloss. I also believe they would love summer flavors and they’d like to collect each flavor.”
