All eyes were on her but not in a good way. Oliver as always, glanced at her amused and lines forming on his forehead.
Something wasn't right with her. His eyes roamed her body, discreetly. She had lost weight and her skin wasn't glowing and she applied too much makeup than usual.
He tilted his head to the side, his lips in a thin line. "Come, sit. After the meeting, see me in my office for your punishment, Hastings."
Stiffly, she moved her feet to find a seat but the only empty seat was beside Oliver who was at the head of the table. Everyone paused what they were doing to watch what was about to unfold. Oliver never allowed any woman to sit anywhere next to him.
Kayla, unaware of this, lowered herself into the seat, awkwardly. They all waited for Oliver to yell but seconds passed and he didn't say anything. Maybe he hadn't noticed her presence.
The man in question, raised his head, glowering at his employees, "I do not pay all of you to waste my time. Can we continue?"
"Yes sir," they said in unison, still unsure of what just happened.
Technically speaking she and Oliver weren't touching each other so maybe that was why he didn't push her away.
However, Reigna threw daggers at Kayla and if looks could obliterate someone, Kayla would have died a thousand times over. Reigna arrived early at the office and she wanted to sit there, Oliver unceremoniously told her to get lost halfway through sitting.
So there she was, squatting on a seat and being humiliated and it was all Kayla's fault. But Kayla couldn't even bothered with Reigna's ire as her whole body was on fire. It was a mistake to sit here. If her heart disease didn't kill her, Oliver would.
His hand was on her thigh, fingers stroking it as he listened intently to the analysis his subordinate was giving, the other hand, perched on his chin as he stared at his laptop screen.
"If they keep attacking the software, very soon they will be able to break in," Jack said, brows furrowed.
"They are chipping away the defense, finding out how many attacks the server can take then retreat and revamp so they can attack better and faster." Cherry's sweet voice sounded and everyone agreed with her point.
"It can backfire." Kayla suddenly spoke and all of their heads turned to her.
"Go on," Oliver urged, quietly, squeezing her thigh reassuringly.
"If we can create a system that can absorb the attack and use it as a source of power or energy to attack the bug trying to get it. Since we know what they are trying to do, we can catch them by surprise," she explained but Reigna rolled her eyes.
"How do you suggest we do that? Not even the Circular Pyramid does that!" Her counter made sense. What the Pyramid did was to make the attacker run in circles, trap them in the pyramid and as they try to get out, it collapses on them not use the attack as a weapon against them.
"She's a new intern so she's trying to impress us all but she has no idea of what she's saying." One employee pointed out making some of the others chuckle. Kayla's cheeks turned red and Oliver's gaze turned cold. His Hastings had a point but these idiots didn't understand anything.
Feeling the coldness emitting from him they all thought he was going to kick her out on her first day because Oliver hated people who pretended to know it all.
"If you don't have anything reasonable to suggest, I urge you to shut your mouths." Regina looked at Kayla smugly but the expression faded as quickly as it came.
"Are you suggesting we use electricity to absorb the attacks and create a force field?" Rosa was the one who asked this. Kay was unto something.
"Then as we go for the defense, another program is run simultaneously to attack by using the same electricity," Oliver added, a proud smile plastered on his face. He had thought about it before but it would require more than one person and would take months to build.
"But there isn't enough time to build such a system." The Head of the Security System frowned and they turned to look at Kayla and Oliver.
"Simulation." Both of them said at the same time and everyone blinked.
"We can use the simulation of their previous attacks to understand the pattern so we can create software that responds to that specific pattern instead of waiting for their attacks to test it out," Oliver explained.
"In the meantime, if everyone can focus their attention on building the new software we might be able to build it sooner than we expect. As we have professionals in the house, dedication is not a problem." Oliver nodded, agreeing with Kayla.
Their sync was profound. The dazzling smile Kayla flashed them made them believe that there was nothing wrong with her statement.
"Good Girl." The CEO spoke in a voice only two of them could hear and Kayla averted her gaze. Her heart fluttered at the compliment. She cleared her throat.
It was decided that Oliver would map up the structure of the new security system and designate roles for each person so they could start as soon as possible.
Kayla's knuckles hovered on the glass door that led into Oliver's office. She hesitated before knocking three times and she heard his baritone voice say, "Come in."
Kayla pushed open the door, clearing her thought and straightening her back, "You asked to see me, professor." It was a terrible idea to look at him.
His hand was on his throat, loosening his tie. The sunlight that shone highlighted every one of his well-sculpted features. Fuck he was sexy. Greek god sexy. His Adam's Apple bobbled and her mouth ran dry.
"Enjoying the view, Hastings?" He smirked snapping her out of her inappropriate thoughts. "Sit," he instructed but she shook her head. Defiant as ever.
"You can doll out my punishment from there and I prefer standing." she didn't want to be anywhere close to him. The control he had over her was frightening.
"Oh, Hastings, you should know the consequences of disobeying me by now." He remarked lightly but the threat was there.
"I don't even obey my heart or God let alone you, professor. Say whatever you want to say and let's get this over with." She replied, impatiently.
"You are such an annoying brat when you want to be, you know that Hastings? And it infuriates me so much that sometimes I just want to choke you." There was a tick in his jaw.
"Feeling is very mutual. It keeps me up at night that I haven't strangled you to death, yet." She snarled.
"Yet you fall asleep, moaning my name." A low, seductive laugh escaped his lips and she froze. He had cameras in her room so he must have seen her when she touched herself and came saying his… fuck! This wasn't a fair game.
She narrowed her eyes at him, "You are a pig. A dirty disgusting excuse of a man, Oliver."
"Like the thought of me watching you doesn't make you soaked for me. Now come and sit."
"Or else what?"
"I will make you and we always know how that goes, Hastings." He licked his lips.
Kayla muttered many curses but in the end, she obliged.