She looked up and saw the HR Manager, Richard Lee standing in front of her cubicle. He appeared to have just washed his hands as it was somewhat dripping.
Kai Xin took a piece of leftover napkins on her desk and handed it to him before asking, "Is there any problem?"
Richard took the napkin and wiped his hands with it before saying,
"I've noticed that you've been wearing quite revealing attire since the first day. Even though you are not an employee of Du Corporation, but how you dressed would still reflect the company as a whole. In the future, please refrain from wearing such provocative clothes."
She looked down at her chest. Sure, one can see the cleavage but it was not that exposed. At least not in the Western definition of "provocative".
Along with a dismissive wave of her hand, she smiled at him innocently as she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't know that we are living in the 18th century."
He frowned as he digested the tone of her remark. As he pinched his glabella[1], he cautioned, "There is no need for snippy comment. I am just doing my job as the HR Manager. Don't blame anyone if anything happens to you."
With that last comment, he went back to his office.
She watched as he went back into his office before muttering, "What a prick!"
An old memory resurfaced and a boy's youthful face flashed by in her mind.
Her fingers were tightly clenched into fists as she stared up at him.
With dimples on both his cheeks, he was like the epitome of flower boy as he gave her his most charming and innocent smile.
The same smile that attracted her is now the reason for her nightmares.
He leaned down and reached out to touch her tear stained face.
When her view shifted to the other boy who was tucking in his school shirt behind him, the youth chuckled.
'PAP!!'
Without a warning, he slapped her. She did not make any sound as she glared at him.
He grabbed her chin and snarled, "You should focus on the one talking to you!"
He took a deep breath before caressing her face to sooth the pain from his earlier outburst.
With a low voice, he spoke gently, "This is all your fault. You should put on more clothes. Don't blame us."
The youth leaned in and with the same innocent smile, he added, "You Zhens should have stayed under radar."
That smile was forever etched in her mind.
Kai Xin did not noticed that her hands were trembling. She was stuck in her nightmare when Han Ye approached her.
"Ms Zhen?" Han Ye asked when he saw her cloudy and unfocused eyes. He was walking by when he heard part of the brief exchange between the two.
When Richard left, she appeared abnormal as if she was affected by his words, and her actions were unlike the usual fearless and calm Zhen Kai Xin that he knew.
When she did not respond to him, he shook her shoulder slightly only to be pushed violently away.
"ARGH!"
Han Ye cried out loudly when he bumped into the sharp corner of the next table. His loud voice woke Kai Xin up from her flashbacks.
Unfortunately, it also alerted everyone and brought everyone's attention over.
Callum went over and when he saw Han Ye hunched over and rubbing the small of his back, he glowered at Kai Xin and snapped, "What is going on here? Don't you know that any form of violence is prohibited here?"
Kai Xin looked at the people watching her and it brought back the unpleasant memories of her weakest moments. She quickly regained her composure and returned back to the usual calm and composed version of her.
She chose to ignore Callum's questions and looked directly at Han Ye, "Mr Han, are you alright? I did not mean to push you that hard."
Han Ye nodded. His face was a little pale as he rubbed his sore back, "I'm fine. Are you alright? You were-."
"Yeah, just a little cold." She cut him off before he can divulge any of her weaknesses to the people surrounding them.
Uncomfortable with the stares, she quickly packed up her stuff and told Han Ye, "I'm not feeling well today. I'll work from home."
Han Ye looked at the clock. It was almost 3pm and President Du had a meeting with a director of their branch company at 7pm. It should be fine for her to go back. If President Du asked about her, he would let him know of what had happened today.
He nodded at her and told her to go home and rest. "I'll cover for you if anyone asked."
Callum and Kai Xin knew that he was talking about President Du.
"I'm really sorry about hurting you." Kai Xin apologized again before she left.
She hurriedly left the building, flagged down a cab and went straight to AVENGE. Since the bar was closed, she went in through the backdoor.
The first thing she saw when she entered the VIP room was Ghost.
He was sleeping on the couch with an arm draped over one of his eyes. With his sunglasses off, and his hair unkempt, he looked so vulnerable.
At first, she thought to let him off. However, when she heard Ghost moaned in his sleep, "No... Don't bite it. It hurts...", she did not wait any longer.
Based on the bulge in his pants, it was obvious what the idiot was dreaming about!
She dragged a surprised Ghost who was sleeping on the couch in the VIP room into the wrestling area and threw him down on the ground. The man grumbled as he pulled himself up from the dusty floor.
"Fight me!" She paced around the room.
Now that she was in a safe place, she was able to let her emotion flow freely and that means all her pent-up anger from earlier as well.
"How could I let myself be so easily influenced by such words?" She chided herself loudly. When she noticed that Ghost was leaning against the wall and was about to fall back to sleep, she yelled at him, "Now!"
The loud voice woke him up and in a groggy manner, he asked, "What the fuck? I was just about to score with a hot chick in my dream!"
"Yeah, in your dream!" She was about to pull out the two sets of gloves from the cupboard when she stopped and pulled out a sparring chest guard instead.
She wanted to feel some pain today and at the same time, she wanted to hurt someone. However, at the state she was in, she knew that if she were to fight him without a chest guard, she might injured him.
She tossed the chest guard at Ghost and snarled, "Put that on!"
"Why do you always take your anger out on me?!" Ghost glared at her through his mismatched eyes but he still put it on like an obedient puppy.