The Billionaire's Assistant

Chapter 83

"Hey!" the familiar, friendly voice called. "I was wondering when you'd come back."

Kat smiled at the beaming woman.

"I knew you would," she continued cheerily. "But I just didn't know when. Come sit, sit, have some tea."

Kat walked further into the garishly decorated lobby, the scent of fresh flowers filling her nose.

"Actually," she began, surprising herself with words she wasn't planning to say. "I actually came to talk to you, I think."

There was a silence, as both Kat and the woman took in what she'd said.

"I'm not sure why," Kat continued hesitantly, feeling as if she weren't in control of her own voice yet aware that the words she spoke were entirely true. "I think I need,"

She faltered.

"I think I need advice?" she said, the end of her sentence lilting upwards as if it were a question.

The woman nodded seriously, as if strangers came to reception to ask for vague life advice multiple times a day. She studied her, then pursed her lips.

"You need to be careful," the woman said decisively. "You need to think more deeply about your end goals and desires, you need to prioritize trust, and you need to be very, very careful."

She looked back up at Kat, the goodnature expression slipping back onto her face as quickly as it had been replaced by her momentarily stoic one.

"That's just the vibe I get, anyway," she said, grinning. "Why?"

Kat shrugged, the woman's words settling over her like a cloak.

"I'm not sure," she admitted quietly. "I wasn't even going to-"

She stopped, realizing that attempting to explain herself would be fruitless and confusing.

"I'm just not sure how this is going to end. I'm not sure how it can end."

"Maybe you're too focused on the end?" the woman offered. "You need tea."

Kat nodded and the woman set about the task of making it, chatting to Kat over her shoulder the entire time. Kat sat with the women for nearly an hour, drinking her tea that slowly grew tepid and having light conversation about nothing, as if the women hadn't all but prophesied over Kat just moments before.

She took her leave right before 7, headed back to the den with nothing to show for the day, even her briefcase forgotten in Jove's office. The woman at the Belizeilbee was right, Kat was too focused on the end. Far too focused, fixated on it even. She had the next week or so to enjoy the time she spent with Jove, and she'd be a fool not to take advantage of it, a fool that was certain to be burdened with regret.

She didn't want to get hurt, but it was as if this situation were a fall taking place in slow motion. Hitting the ground was a certainty, pain was an inevitability, but she could choose to feel the pain prematurely, to brace herself for the impact before it happened, or she could choose to enjoy the momentary sensation of weightlessness. She needed Jove like she needed water and air, like she needed life. The fall was worth it for him.