Of course, he had appointed a meeting with Mr Brown. I should have guessed it from the beginning, seeing as they recently announced that they were going to be business partners. His visits to the company were probably going to become more frequent and I couldn't exactly say I was happy about it.

"This room," I pointed towards Mr Brown's office as I felt Damian follow close behind. Without saying anything, he made his way in and was about to close the door when Mr Brown blurted:

"Valerie! Please bring us something to drink. I'd say we drink some champagne but you know we have a lot to discuss."

Before I could stop myself, I found myself saying:

"He does have high alcohol tolerance," which surprised the both of us. Mr Brown chuckled, "yeah? And how would you know that?"

I scratched the back of my head. "Just a hunch."

"Coffee it is. You know what I usually drink. What about you, Mr Everson?"

Damian shook his head. "I don't feel like drinking anything."

Mr Brown shrugged before uttering, "Your loss," making him chuckle. I took that as my cue to leave and close the door behind me. I could hear them greeting each other followed with the laughter of Mr Brown. I sighed as I made my way to the kitchen.

I prepared Mr Brown's latte and paused for a second before deciding to bring Damian his favorite- black coffee. I never understood why he liked it, but that's the only way he drank his coffee. After endless pondering, I settled on the thesis that he only liked it because it's as bitter as his soul (although I never admitted it to him out loud knowing that he would probably end up roasting me like a chicken).

I put the mugs on a silver tray and carried it to the office. I pulled down the handle with my elbow and swiftly made my way in, careful not to fall and make a fool out of myself.

Especially not in front of Damian.

I sat the beverages in front of their predators before I turned around to leave. However, me being the clumsy clutz that I am, I tripped on my heels and landed with a thud.

"Ouch!" I involuntarily grunted. I rubbed my ankle before I felt a familiar person kneel right next to me. I looked up to see Damian staring at me in concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly. For a second, I forgot where we both were and it seemed like my brain started thinking we're back in the old times. I smiled and nodded.

"It's not like this is the first time I trip on air," I said jokingly. Damian was about to respond when Mr Brown cleared his throat, making us both abruptly turn our heads towards him.

"Valerie, dear, how many times do I have to tell you not to wear high heels if you can't handle them?"

I shrugged. "It's the class that matters, sir. What's a little bit of bruises if your elegance is shimmering through," I answered humorously. Mr Brown laughed, already used to me saying that every time he asks me to stop making my own life harder deliberately. Damian immediately stood up and his face contorted back to its previous emotionless state. He eyed me with disgust before he went back to his seat. My breath hitched for a moment as my brain started going back to the harsh reality and I quickly got up and pretended to dust my clothes.

"Well, I need to go back to doing my job. Good luck on whatever you're doing," I said before I left the tense room and closed the door behind me. However, I could still hear Mr Brown from behind the door as he proclaimed,

"Mr Everson, what a gentleman you are. You didn't waste a minute to stand up to aid her."