* X x * x * x * Chapter 24 * x * x * x X*
After their welcome dinner, weeks went by and it is now their third month with the company. The week has been quite stressful for Kaye for there is a lot to take in and a lot of work to finish. They were assigned to do Graphic Design research and rendering for the most part and now they were fully left on their own and have already started with their expertise.
She's seen many concepts but hasn't seen anything resembling her favorite artist's art style. She has a person in mind but she can't seem to find any evidence. She can just ask Z about it but she wanted to find them on her own for her amusement.
Her thoughts came to a halt when a box of a cupcake was placed on her table and when she looked up, she found a smiling Zach who didn't say anything and just went on her way to her office, giving her no chance of giving her thanks.
She smiled to herself as heat crept up her neck but was instantly washed away when Felicity asked her which flavor she got. She sighed to herself.
Apparently, she wasn't the only one who got something and she got a little bit disappointed when she doesn't really have the right to be.
****Zach's office*****
Zach threw herself to one of the couches and took some rest. The lunch meeting they had been to was a little far and dealing with a lot of people took a lot of her energy.
Arthur took a seat on the opposite as well as Jeremy who tagged along.
"You know, Z's starting to piss me off." Jeremy voiced out and he saw Arthur nod his head in agreement. It seems like they're both on the same page.
"What?" Zach looked at them with confused eyes.
The two started talking with each other pretending not to notice Zach who was trying to figure them out.
"She's such a walking contradiction isn't she?" Arthur asked Jeremy and the latter nods his head furiously.
"Seriously, what is wrong with you guys?" Z was now starting to get annoyed.
"You know just the other day, she did this too." Jeremy continued.
Arthur waved his hand in resignation, "You know the funny part? She masks it out by buying it for 'everyone'. God, I can't"
Jeremy chuckled and shook his head, "That's not even the funniest part. She keeps saying that they could never happen, she won't do anything or something like that but what do you know!"
Z miserably defended herself. "I see what you're on about. It's not like that. I just want to treat the team."
It seems like her antics are not getting past these two.
She doesn't have control over it, the girl is just so beautiful in her eyes and She just couldn't resist making Kaye smile with anything she possibly can do.
"See?" Jeremy finally acknowledges Zach and added, "A walking contradiction." Both their laughter echoed through the room and Zach just groaned and placed a pillow on her face.
*****few hours later*****
"Ready to go?" Kaye heard Arthur from behind.
"I will be in a few. Let me just fix my desk." She smiled at Arthur.
Arthur smiled back and looked at Felicity still working on her own projects. "Well, you can continue that at home, Ellie. Wrap up."
Felicity looked like she aged ten years in just a month that they were left to their own accord and she isn't any different. "Yes, give me five minutes and I'll be done."
Arthur sighed. "You gotta work with your speed, girl. You have deadlines to meet. Of course without compromising the quality."
Kaye smiled empathetically at her friend. "You can do it, Ellie." She raised her fist for encouragement.
"Everyone, you better wrap it up so we can start the party!" Arthur yelled the last part to the team and everyone roared, "Almost done!", "I'm done." "Free booze, oh yeah!"
J emerged from out of nowhere and shouted, "NoiceNoiceNoiceNoiceNoiceNoice!"
"Uh, excuse me, good sir, this is a party for the creative department's TEAM A." Arthur raised an eyebrow at J.
"Well, excuse me, good gay, this is a joint party if your boss failed to inform you," J smirked at him.
*Spanish gasp* "I have heard of no such things!" Arty holds his chest.
"So, where's Zach? J asked Arthur and Arthur just wrote the answer on a sheet of paper.
"Kaye, would you mind bringing the sponsor out here?" J asked her.
"Me?" Kaye points at herself.
"Yes, you. Do we have another Kaye here?" J smiled sweetly at her.
"I mean, sure I'll do it." Kaye shot up from her seat.
J nodded, "Good. Thank me later."
She got puzzled by his last statement but heed it no mind. She went and proceeded to Z's office. She knocked a couple of times but when Z didn't answer, she went and took a peek inside.
Felicity watched as J and Arthur did a fist bump. "Good one." They both snickered and Felicity understood the assignment.
'Oh, they must be shipping then as well.' She thought and smiled.
"Pardon me, I kept on knocking but…" Her voice trailed off when she didn't find Z on her desk.
She looked around and saw Z lying on the couch sleeping. She closed the door and slowly went beside the sleeping Z.
Her chest falls and rises in rhythm with her slow breaths. She has her left arm on her forehead while his leg is down with his right foot resting flat on the floor.
Kaye went down to her knees and inclined on the pillow that was on the floor and she studied Z's face as she slept the afternoon away.
Her lashes are long, her nose is just perfectly trim and tall. Her parted lips were inviting, captivating all of her senses. Still alluring even as she sleeps, isn't this illegal?
Her body moved without her knowing and bent down to taste those lips once again.
She caught herself mid-way as she saw her squirm, 'what the hell am I doing? This is so wrong!'
She shook her head and straightened her back. She tapped on her shoulder lightly to wake her up.
"Hey, gorgeous, wake up~" she whispered. Nothing happened.
"Zach, honey, wake up~" she blushed and laughed inwardly.
"Darling… "
"Babe~…Baby~ "
"Sweetie…" She with all the whispers.
How about, "My love, wake up~" Z's spirit perked at that.
She fakes to wake her up with all the endearments to entertain herself.
"Wake up, Mi amor~" She failed to notice that the last one was no longer a whisper.
Zach's eyes shot wide open as she heard the word 'mi amor', she looked beside her, eyes still blurry from her sleep, hallucinating, "Mom!"
She snaked her arm around Kaye's neck and pulled her for a hug which surprised Kaye that her soul almost went for a trip in the afterlife.
Her silliness backfired and now she couldn't stop the redness rushing from her neck all the way up her ears and cheeks. They stayed in that position for a moment when the door opened up but Jeremy had to close it again.
'I have the weirdest timing ever' he sighs. He turned to Arthur who carried a puzzled face, "She's still waking her up. Let's wait."
"Z? A-are you alright?" Kaye stuttered when she figured Z won't be releasing her anytime soon.
Z finally came to her senses. She felt a tear and wiped it discreetly. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry, I just— I just had a—a dream."
"I see. Well, uh, I-I hate to disturb you in your sleep but they asked me to fetch you out." Kaye explained.
"Of-of course. Let me just collect myself. Sorry."
Kaye stood up from the floor and moved to a single sofa. She was worried about what happened and if she was alright but couldn't bring herself to ask.
Zach was lost in her thoughts for a while. Wanted to ask her a question but decided against it.
They heard a knock and Zach lets them in. "Come in."
"You awake, princess?" J asked. "You know, I can pretty much report to the disciplinary committee that you were sleeping during office hours." He joked.
Z being silent made him baffled. 'What is with this weird atmosphere?' He looked at Kaye, his eyes questioning.
Kaye just shrugged for she doesn't even know what was happening.
J sat beside his friend, he knows this look. He has seen it a lot. "Hey, Kyler. Qué pasó?"
Kaye's ears perked up at the mention of Kyler. Did she hear him wrong? Kaye doesn't understand a lick of Spanish so she might have misheard it.
"It's nothing." She looked at the time, "Are you guys ready?"
"Did you bring your car?" J turned his head to Arthur who shook his head, "I didn't bring it 'cause I thought we're riding yours."
"Tch. You take a cab and bring the newbies with you." J told Arthur whose eyes twitched at what he said but let it pass as he looked at Z.
"Got it, 'boss."' Arthur mocked him.
"Thanks, Arty." He smirked at him and stood up. "¡Vamos!