At midnight, Kim took his phone and sent a text message to Riele.
"Where are you now?"
"I thought you worked after seeing your mom."
"Is everything okay with your mom?"
"I'd appreciate it if you would reply to my text messages."
He dropped his phone close to his bed hoping to hear a beep or something, but there was no notification at all.
"Are you home now?" he heard Jay asked on the phone.
"Is everything okay with you? Do you feel fine?"
Jay entered the room where Kim was and sat on the bed.
"Does that mean I will see you tomorrow?"
After a few seconds, he looked at Kim who was looking at him back before looking away. "I am sure he wouldn't mind."
No one needed to tell Kim who Jay was on the phone with. He folded his arms and listened to their conversations.
"Okay, I will see you tomorrow then."
"How is Charlotte?"
"Okay. I have to go now. Bye."
He hung up and dropped his phone on the shelf beside the bed. He was about to lie down his head when Kim stopped him.
"How is she?"
"Why don't you call her and ask her that?"
"I sent her a couple of messages, but she hasn't responded to them yet."
"Then, wait for her to respond to them."
He turned his face away and laid his head on the pillow.
Kim took his phone and checked for Riele's reply, but there was none.
Is she still mad at me? He thought. He knew he wasn't being fair to her, but somehow, he wishes she would see beyond his mean attitude.
***
The following day, Riele got to work. It surprised her to see that Kim wasn't yet in his office. She asked Madison why he wasn't in yet.
"How am I supposed to know what Mr. Kim does or why he isn't here yet? Why don't you ask yourself?" She rolled her eyes at her before walking away.
Surprised at her outbursts, she brought out her phone only to find thirty messages from Kim. Her eyes widened in shock as she opened the messages.
The last time he sent her a message was 7 A.M. She couldn't tell what to make of it.
She put a call through to him. It rang for a few seconds before a voice spoke on the other side of the phone.
"Took you long enough," the voice said.
"Where are you? Why aren't you in the office yet?"
"Why did you ignore my messages?"
"I didn't ignore them… I am just seeing them right now. Where are you?"
"I can't come to work."
"What do you mean you can't come to work?"
"I am glad I could hear your voice. I was worried sick about you." he chuckled. "Maybe I should stop…"
"Maybe you should stop what?"
"What I am doing."
"What are you doing?"
"I don't even understand how my heart works anymore."
"What are you talking about?"
"I feel I am becoming a fool for you."
"Kim, where are you?"
"I wish you could see my heart right now, and I wish you could hear my thoughts…"
"Everyone is waiting for you, Kim."
"Jay will take over for today. I will come to work tomorrow."
"Kim…"
The call ended and Riele was shocked. She tried calling him again, but his number became unavailable. She tried several times and got the same response.
"Hey!" She felt arms wrapped around her neck. She turned and saw Jay standing next to her.
"Hi." She smiled at him.
"Why do you look so scared?"
"That's because you scared me, isn't it obvious?"
Jay laughed before pecking her cheeks.
"Hi, Jay." Madison greeted without hiding her disgust for Riele. It could be seen in her eyes that she was avoiding Riele.
"Yeah."
"Is Kim coming? We are still yet to discuss the competition. Everyone is waiting for an update."
"About that, I will be the one in charge. Kim will resume work tomorrow."
"Is he sick?" Amanda asked.
"He is love-sick," he whispered into Riele's ears, who nudged him in the stomach.
"Ouch!" he rubbed his tummy while smiling at her.
"Well, what's the plan?" Madison asked while ignoring Jay and Riele's interaction.
"He has chosen his model." Jay lied just to see Riele's reaction.
"Who is the model he chose?" Riele asked. She was confused as to why Kim would change the model out of the blue.
No one was a better model than Madison.
"And who is that?" Madison asked.
Jay tapped Riele's shoulders and said her name.
"What?" She was shocked.
Madison was shocked. "But she is not the model here, I am."
"She is the model he chose." Jay retorted.
"This doesn't make any sense. I have never modeled before, and I do not intend to start now. Why would he change the model without discussing it with anyone?" Riele questioned.
"This is all your fault!" Madison walked close to her and slapped her face.
Everyone gasped.
"How dare you!" a voice asked from behind and every eye turned to see Kim standing there.
Madison was shocked. She wasn't expecting to see him. "I can explain… I…"
"You can explain? What sort of explanation do you have to give?"
"Sir, I can explain… I didn't know what came over me… I…"
"You are fired!"
Madison went on her knees and pleaded with Kim, but he didn't listen to her, rather he went close to Riele, held her hand, and pulled her out of the office.
Riele couldn't still believe she was slapped. After realizing all this she was getting was because of Kim, she despised him even more.
"Riele, I want you to listen to what I have to tell you."
"No, I want you to listen to what I am going to say." Kim remained quiet and she continued. "Before you came here, this company was organized, and everyone coexisted in peace. I thought when you do get the position, you'd do better, but you keep changing things.
"Why would you choose me as a model?"
"What?"
"Jay said…"
Kim face-palmed himself as he looked at Riele and said, "He lied."
"What?"
"I don't know why he lied, but I didn't say that." he moved closer to her and held her hand. "Riele, I know that I haven't been doing my job…"
"Then start doing it." she cuts him off. "It's not just about you knowing, but you knowing and doing something about it."
"I know, and that's why I need you by my side."
"I don't understand."
"Will you be my girlfriend, Riele?"