[Chapter 26]
The next day, as soon as Natalie arrived at the office, the colleague sitting opposite to her suddenly winked at her. "Did you hear? Pamela was demoted and transferred to an insignificant department."
Natalie cocked her head to the side slightly. After a short pause, she asked, "Was it Mr. Lyman's doing?"
"Of course! You can't just spread a rumor about your superior. In fact, I think Mr. Lyman actually showed her mercy. At least he didn't fire her. But I have a feeling that Pamela won't be staying with the Larson Group for very long," the colleague said in a sing-song voice.
Natalie smiled slightly. She figured that the real reason why Ike didn't notify the authorities was because the matter would also smear his name.
"Quinn, I think you did well. Pamela isn't that capable a worker, but she can get really jealous. She was always stirring up trouble and trying to put her other colleagues down. Now that she's gone, I think our department will be more peaceful."
Another colleague handed a little pastry to Natalie and patted her on the shoulder. "I support what you did. You were so brave yesterday."
A faint, warm smile pulled at the corners of Natalie's lips.
Ever since Ike was forced to clarify his relationship with Natalie in public, he had stopped calling her into his office every now and then, or hitting on her like before.
Natalie felt that he had probably given up and was gradually relieved about it.
It was Saturday tomorrow, and she was looking forward to it. She had planned to buy some fruits and visit Hannah after work.
Hannah's condition had stabilized ever since she was transferred to another hospital.
As soon as Natalie turned off her computer, Ike called her from behind.
"Quinn, don't rush off work. Pack your things and come with me. We'll go out for dinner later, and it will be considered overtime. The company will offer you extra payment for it."
Natalie bit her lip; she had an inkling about the dinner. "Mr. Lyman, what kind of dinner is it? Is anyone else joining us?"
Ike calmly looked around and said, "Everyone has left. Only you're here. I can't ask anyone else to join us, can I? I just received the news that there is a chance to win this client over and design customized products for their brand this year. Let's see if we can make it happen tonight."
Natalie looked around. Her colleagues had indeed left work. Natalie had sketched an extra design draft. That was why she had stayed in the company longer.
But she was confused as to why Ike was asking her to attend the dinner. After all, she was a new employee in the company. 'Doesn't he have an assistant? I'm not experienced enough to discuss business, nor can I drink,' she thought.
"Mr. Lyman, why don't you ask someone else to join you? I have important work to do tonight." Natalie picked up her bag, ready to leave.
Ike quickly grabbed her wrist and looked into her eyes. "Don't be nervous. I just want to help you. You are just getting started with your career, and you have practically no resources. Now, you have the chance to become friends with big shots in the fashion world. Don't toss it away for some silly reason."
Natalie wriggled her hand away from Ike's grip. "Mr. Lyman, we are in the company now. If you keep behaving like this, people will end up misunderstanding us. Don't forget that you have already clarified our relationship once. You don't want to do it again, do you?"
"Quinn, don't be so stubborn. We are all here to work. It's just a dinner. Why are you making a big deal out of it? This is a workplace, not a school. You ought to follow the rules and regulations here," Ike said sternly, his eyes gleaming with sarcasm.
"It is not that I don't want to go with you. I really have an important work to do." Natalie didn't want to argue with him.
"Don't be so reckless!" Ike snapped.
He raised his hand, trying to pull her away.
Just then, someone grasped her wrist.
"Mr. Lyman, this is the 21st century. Don't you know that you can't force your subordinate into doing something she doesn't want to?" Christopher's jaw tightened. Although he looked calm, the anger was evident in his eyes.
Noticing that it was Christopher, Ike calmed down and straightened his suit. He didn't dare to be too arrogant in front of Christopher, but he wasn't afraid of him either.
"This is none of your business. Stay out of it."
He turned and glared at Natalie. "Don't be so reckless! If you let me down, I'll make sure you don't work with the Larson Group anymore."
Natalie's face darkened at his threat.
Now that Christopher was here, Ike couldn't do anything to her. However, she couldn't afford to lose the job and didn't want Christopher to offend Ike because of her and end up losing his job.
"Chris, don't worry about me. It will be fine." Natalie smiled at him. Then, she turned to look at Ike as her icy gaze met his. "Mr. Lyman, I'll go with you."
They arrived at a five-star hotel.
Natalie followed Ike into a private room and found that the people he went to meet weren't clients but just a bunch of his friends.
There was a big round table filled with all kinds of sushi and sashimi, and in the middle, there was a carved flagon.
At the table sat a group of men dressed in strangely styled clothes. Each of them held a glass of wine in one hand and a woman in the other. The women all wore heavy makeup and skimpy dresses.
Their faces were all red from drinking. When they saw Ike, they raised their eyebrows and one of them shouted at him, "Oh, finally! Get over here, Ike! We've all been waiting for you!"
Keeping her face neutral, Natalie sat among Ike's friends and their lady companions. It was obvious that the women were working girls.
The women looked at Natalie with a smile as if welcoming one of their own to the party. They even raised their eyebrows and winked at Natalie.
The men fondled the women, and the women giggled. The low moans and the stifled squeals gave the room an atmosphere of drunken lust.
The entire time, Natalie felt like she was sitting on pins and needles. She itched to run far, far away.
"Why are you so nervous?" Ike's cheeks were red. He stared at her lewdly and put his hand on her thigh.
Frightened, Natalie stood up and dumped wine on Ike's face, "You are such a lecher! Don't touch me!"
The people around them didn't seem to be surprised though. In fact, they even started laughing. "Ike, the girl you brought seems to be hot-tempered. You better teach her a lesson tonight so that she'll behave herself."
After that, some of Ike's friends stood up and led their lady friends to their respective rooms for the latter part of the party.
Obviously, Ike already had too much to drink, but he didn't get angry at Natalie's behavior. He just chuckled and said, "What's wrong with me touching you? You're not worth much more than those women who have sex with men for money, unless you're still a virgin though. Are you? Hey, if you let me pop your cherry, I'm willing to pay you much, much more. What do you say? Sounds good?"