14
Their Kingdom Panorama
Was she not excited to have him as her driver?
Without any more questions he started the car and drove out into the night city. The lights alongside the streets helped guide him from lane to lane. He hadn’t felt so nervous before, but being so aware of the fact that if he got into an accident he’d probably be jobless the rest of his life scared him.
Gripping the steering wheel he stole a glance back into the back seat the find So Rae staring out mindlessly. He wanted to know what she was thinking about.
“Do I turn here?” he asked when he came to the stop lights.
“You can’t turn in this lane,” she corrected. “Just keep going straight until you come across a hotel.”
“Hotel?” he repeated. “Do you live in one?”
“Just keep driving.”
Taking it as a stiff warning from her he shut his mouth and made sure to keep silent. At the end of the road he spotted a large and tall building escalating into the deep night sky. Every window seemed to be lit up.
Driving toward the two spinning front doors he walked out quickly and unlocked her door.
“Have a good night,” he said with a bow before starting back toward the car.
“Follow me,” she called loudly.
“Huh?”
A moment later he found himself following her through the large marble hallways. Every light in the ceiling beamed down on them like the sun. A set of escalators went up and down in the center of the floor and Donghae turned around here and there to watch people go by. Others sat on benches and sipped on their cold drinks. Some listened to music, others were on their phone, and some others just sat alone.
Where was she taking him?
So Rae stopped by a desk and had a short chat with the man behind it before receiving a card. She turned to walk away and Donghae found himself meeting eye to eye with the man behind the counter before awkwardly smiling. Quickly turning around he chased So Rae down the hall like a little kid after his mother.
The spectacular white hallway was dimly lit up with lamps sitting alongside the walls and short lamps that hung from the ceiling. Each brass colored door they passed made him wondered who all lived there.
They reached a set of elevators and rode up to the 29th floor. He gulped while staring at the numbers endlessly increasing on the screen. When the doors opened So Rae walked out without a word and Donghae doubted if he should still be following her.
At the end of the hallway So Rae finally slid the card into its keyhole and with a beep the door unlocked. Pushing the door opened Donghae followed her in and came to a stop as soon as he stepped in.
Brilliant bright white lights illuminated the white walls, the large white kitchen with its deep silver sink set by the wall, and the large white living room ahead of him. A curvy couch ran around half the room and against the wall sat a HD TV all brand new and clean. The longest window he’d ever seen in his life ran from wall to wall behind the living room.
His mouth gaped in awe.
So Rae handed him the card and he stared at it with his wide mouth open.
“Stay here from now on,” So Rae ordered, “the last thing I’ll be needing is someone checking up on you at that homeless shelter.”
She turned to look at him.
“Did you get bribed? How could you accept such a job so easily? Do you have no shame?”
Victoria’s voice suddenly approached him from behind and he thought he could feel her grab the collar of his shirt.
“Why?” he asked.
She raised an eyebrow.
“Why are you giving me this?” he wanted to know.
Maybe Victoria had been right. Maybe he was just being used because he’d been as easy as she’d told him he was. Thoughts ran loose inside his mind.
“Apart from the job, this is my other gift to you.” So Rae explained. “Until your salary starts topping the charts you can start paying for your own stay.”
She left the card on the counter and walked out. Once the door closed he turned to glance at the silver card. The thoughts so heavily tempted him and without a second thought as a smile lifted the corner of his lips he reached for the card and ran throughout the suite with arms up in the air and the loudest scream he ever summoned.
Jumping into this fluffy bed he threw and kicked his legs about.
“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! You’ve really hit the jackpot, Lee Donghae!!”
/\_____/\
Just after an hour of cleaning up the place looked like a storm had ransacked it. Clothes were strewn all over and everything was out of place. Victoria moaned and sat down on the ground with the last t-shirt she’d found sitting on her lap. Heaving a sigh she blew at the bangs covering her eyes and stared hopelessly up at the ceiling.
“Nothing,” she muttered.
With an angry heave she grabbed a bunch of her clothes and stood up to toss them onto the ground. The momentarily need to release all stress in her was too strong for her to hold back. However, as her throw was too strong and the clothes too light she felt herself tip backward and when her head hit the desk beside the closet she heard the old drawer pop out.
“Ow!!!” she moaned rubbing her head. “God damnit!!”
She turned to hit the desk only to find pain spreading through it like heat. Shaking her hand in anger she began to get up when a dark cube on the ground caught her attention. The pain in her hand dissipated as curiosity got the better of her.
“What’s this?”
Reaching for the soft cube she discovered that it was a ring box. She’d never seen it before in her life. Opening it she felt drop in awe at the silver ring decked in little shining diamonds crawling into the shape of a small ribbon.
As her instincts always got her she glanced around before pulling the ring out only to find that a silver chain attached to it had been pulled out from underneath its cushion. Setting the ring in the middle of her palm she eyed it suspiciously, yet curiously.
“Is this grandma’s?” she asked herself. “How did such an expensive thing get here?”
Then she hesitated before slipping it around her neck.
When Victoria walked through the front doors in the best outfit she could find, which was the knee length dress she’d worn to a picnic once. Cautiously looking around she made her way toward the elevators feeling nervous and embarrassed for having dressed up. She half hoped that So Rae had prepared some neat clothes for her just as she had for Donghae yesterday.
Reaching the elevator doors she turned around to pressed the 5th floor button, but just right when the elevator doors began to close it opened again. She glanced up to find two tall man dressed in neat black uniforms walk in.
“Sorry about that,” one of them apologized before pressing the 10th floor button.
Victoria pushed herself into the corner and nervously turned her face aside so that they wouldn’t be able to look at her face. For some reason the two man gave her a strong vibe and to know that they held such authority scared her. Kind of like the police at the jail who were merciless.
When her eyes lowered she noticed that one of them was carrying a very thick black bag full of…documents?
The door opened and Victoria quickly exited. She could hear her own feet scurrying down the hallway before she stopped around the corner. When she looked up she felt her eyes grow big.
Donghae stared right back at her dressed in one of the neat suits he’d received yesterday. Why…was he standing there with his back to the door?
Victoria felt open and she spun around to throw a hand over in case she shouted anything inappropriate at him.
“Victoria?” a woman’s voice entered her ears.
Scrunching up her face into a scowl she pressed her lips before turning around. She totally hadn’t expected to see Donghae first thing in the morning. Knowing that she even wore a dress and tried to make herself look neat made it even more embarrassing.
“The VP is waiting for you.” the woman explained.
Nodding she slowly trotted toward the office doors coolly. Pausing before the door she turned to look at him with a glare and found him staring at her expressionless.
Knocking on the door once she opened it to find So Rae sitting inside. Setting down her pen she stood up and overlooked Victoria’s outfit.
“I didn’t think about offering you a wardrobe since you were so uptight about getting the free job yesterday,” So Rae said, “I assume I shall provide you with some new clothes that are appropriate for your job until you start receiving your salary.”
Victoria hesitated in retort.
“And your home…I assume you’ll still insist on living there?”
Why…did it feel as if this woman was mocking her? Did So Rae really not know who she was?
Victoria almost opened to retort.
“Well, if that’s all then we’re set.” So Rae sat back down. “You’ll be taking Da Eun’s spot as my secretary out there since she’s quitting early. Do a good job.”
With a half smile So Rae turned back to her papers.
Victoria stood there and stared at her feeling her confidence from earlier slide down the drain. Feeling like an idiot for giving her best shot at dressing up she walked out purposely closing the door with a loud bam. She turned to glare at Donghae before walking toward the secretary.
/\_____/\
“Please sit down,” President Bang invited the two private detectives in.
They were led to the relaxing corner in his office and took a seat at the same couch they had on their visit two days ago. The door opened and his secretary walked in with a few cups of coffee. She walked out after placing them down on the table in front of them.
One of the men set down his bag and dug out a vanilla envelope as President Bang took a seat adjacent to him.
“We made a visit to the jailhouse as well as the court yesterday,” the detective explained.
“Getting through the D.A. must have not been simple,” President Bang sympathized. “What did you find?”
“Victoria Song,” the detective with the square face started off, “is currently 25 years old right now and has just been released from jail. Her whereabouts are unknown as of right now, but seems as if she had a grandma who passed away while she was serving her sentence. She might be staying at her grandma’s home as of right now.”
“Grandma?” President Bang repeated then lowered his voice to ask, “May I ask why she went to jail?”
“She guilty of drug trafficking.”
“Drug trafficking?” President Bang repeated breathlessly.
The detective nodded, “She was found on site when the police got her.”
President Bang’s mouth dropped in shock and he shook his head.
“Sir, we also brought a picture with us. Would you like to see it to confirm if she looks like your passed wife?”
President Bang slowly turned back to look at them before gulping and nodded. After a momentarily silence the detective reached into another folder in his bag and slid a picture across the table toward him.
In the picture a woman with long hair wearing a jail uniform stared back at the camera darkly while holding up her plate number.
A loud gasp escaped President Bang’s mouth.
“It’s her…oh my God it’s her…” his shaky finger pointed at the picture.
/\_____/\
Victoria stared hard into the computer screen unable to concentrate on anything at all. It was useless, hopeless, and boring. Even through all that she could feel lasers pointing at her from the back of her head and immediately spinning around she glared at him with the deep set of eyes she had.
“WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!” she screamed at him.
He scowled at her, “What are you talking about?”
“Why do you keep staring at me?!”
“Staring?” he breathlessly repeated surprised and shocked with her. “How dare you accuse me!”
“I can feel your eyes literally digging into the back of my head!” she spouted.
“Whoa! I’m just here doing my job and you think I have the decency to check you out from behind, you fat woman?”
Victoria’s mouth dropped open and she stood up from where she’d been sitting.
Donghae backed up into the door, “Yah! You! You dare do anything to me and I’ll fire you!”
Victoria snorted.
“You think that just because you’re a secretary you can pull off that snobby act of yours for free?! I’ll set complaints on you…YOU!” he retorted.
Victoria bit onto the bottom of her lip and took a step forward when Donghae suddenly stumbled forward. The office door opened and So Rae stepped out. The silence in the air built a small amount of tension around them.
So Rae eyed them before asking, “What are you two doing?”
***LOL!!! Victoria is using her anger on Donghae! And she's only angry cause she's embarrassed of the way she dressed up xDD
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