Mindful Beauty

4) Her Reputation

"What in the heavens did you say to poor Selena?" Damien's mom, Celeste, gasped loudly through the phone. Damien fought the eye roll that wanted to ensue. "I honestly do not understand what or who it is that you are waiting for. You have a perfectly beautiful and intelligent and willing woman that will put up with you for the rest of her life-"

"Save her the misery, then, Madre." Damien cut her off, the elevator doors opening.

"It was a joke, Damien. I can't even say a simple thing without any of you getting offended these days."

"I have to go, Mom. I'm at work."

"Already?" Damien shut his office door, trudging to his desk to place down his suitcase when his door slammed open again.

"Now this is preposterous! Just how immature and ridiculous can this old man be?! She's a psychologist for goodness sake! Look! Look at this!" Kim shoved a paper towards Damien's face, shaking it furiously before pulling it back to his own face, glaring at it and not giving Damien a chance to actually read its contents. "Did you see that nonsense?! Makes no sense. No matter how I see it, he's just a controlling-"

"Mr. Kim!" Damien's office door slammed open before it slammed shut right behind Oliver. "Have you seen this?!" Oliver was intensely reading a file in his hand, his mouth pulled into a tight line that made him appear older than his actual thirty-eight years of age.

"Are you sure you're at work?" Celeste's voice reminded Damien that he was still on the phone. He quickly turned his attention to her.

"Yes, Madre. Listen, I have to go. I'll call you later." Damien hung up before his mother could protest or worse, call him to dinner tonight.

"Mr. Kim!" The young secretary, Hope, walked in with a few copies in her arms. The door slammed shut behind her. "The copies you asked for Parker's case."

Damien took one from her pile, baffled at the strong reactions that Oliver and Mr. Kim were giving based on what they were reading,

"Is it true?" His office door slammed open again, and Damien clenched his jaw. Why couldn't they meet up in the conference room? Why did they have to go and bother the person that was the most lonesome person there was in that building if not that state.

"They're wanting to prosecute her for this?" Damien frowned, looking down at the official order for a trail from the insurance agency.

"That's what I'm saying!" Kim exploded again, and Hope flinched back from handing him his own copy of the Parker case.

"This is clearly just pretty retaliation." Oliver scoffed, rubbing his forehead in frustration.

"Do they have evidence?" Damien was equally baffled by the sudden turn of events. He flipped furiously through all the sheets of paper that were in the file, but he came up blank.

"Not unless they have a witness." Katherine leaned against the wall. Oliver, upon seeing her get comfortable, sat down on a chair opposite to Damien's.

"This is absurd." Mr. Kim leaned against Damien's desk, and Damien sighed. Now they are getting comfortable. Great.

"What if we talk to the wife? Surely she won't go along with his lie." Hope perked up after peaking at the papers in Kim's hands.

Damien frowned. What wife? Jamie?

"What's going on in here?" The older secretary, Joselyn Barnes, peaked in.

"Jamie going along with whose lie?" Damien looked at everyone, watching as they all looked at him, bearing frowns on their faces with questioning eyes.