Slow Dancing

19 | vibrato

1 9

v i b r a t o

[It.] : A fluctuation in pitch.

I WAS PLEASANTLY surprised when Stella invited me to go along with her to the Mortezion several days later. Even though she was working in admin, she intended to help her other colleagues who had to prepare the venue for the party. I was more than happy to follow, so after finishing up some emails, I buzzed Kaden through the intercom to let him know.

"It's just for a couple of hours," I added, when he didn't say a word. "I'm going to help set up some things, but I'll be back before you know it."

But the click of the intercom left me rather taken aback. I glanced up at Stella, who'd been perched on my desk listening in to the conversation as she leafed through one of the folders. "I just can't figure him out sometimes," I admitted, shaking my head in confusion. "Just when I start thinking that I maybe do, I realise that I don't. It's like taking one step forward and two steps back."

Stella simply winked. "He's what we call an enigma, love. Why else would most of the single people in this building fancy the pants off him?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but the door to Kaden's office opened abruptly. Several people streamed out of the office, barely sparing us a glance as they continued the conversation that they were clearly having during the meeting. And then Kaden stepped out, looking handsome as ever in his black suit and closed-off expression.

Stella's eyes widened at the sight of our boss and she quickly hopped off the table. "Mr Bretton."

Kaden nodded briefly at her before looking at me. "I'm coming along with you."

I almost fell off my chair in shock. "What?" I blurted, casting a quick glance at Stella, who looked equally as dumbfounded.

"To the Mortezion," he returned evenly, although I could've sworn I saw a flicker of amusement in his eyes. "I'd like to see how the preparations are coming along."

"But – "

He raised an eyebrow challengingly at me. "Afraid I'll ruin your fun?"

Actually, that wasn't it. I was still reeling from the fact that he wanted to take a look at the place. He wasn't the event planner nor was he part of the preparation team. It seemed almost ludicrous that he'd want to be there when people would be setting up the tables and decorating the room around him.

But I didn't say any of that because a part of me kind of liked the fact that he wasn't going to distance himself from his employees. It was nice that he wanted to be more involved in the hands-on aspects of work.

So I simply smiled. "Kind of, yeah."

He narrowed his eyes but I caught the faint gleam of amusement in them and knew he wasn't offended at all. Reaching over to my coat that was draped over the back of my chair, he handed it to me, along with my purse that he'd picked up from the desk. "Come on."

I took my purse, shrugging into the coat that he held out for me. Kaden headed off first, leaving Stella and me trailing after him, and she slipped her arm in mine the moment he was out of earshot.

"Darling, was that some casual flirting I spied earlier?" She asked, her eyes gleaming with curiosity. "I've never seen Mr CEO over there treat anyone with this kind of informality before."

"Really?"

"Mm. I've been here for a couple of years now ever since Parker got me an interview at Bretton Industries, and I've seen a lot of things and heard a lot of things – but never this."