The Devil's Harem

“You are here,” Karen exclaimed when she looked up, hearing the knock. Alex was peeking inside through the door, “Come in,” Karen said, gesturing to him with a wave of her hand.

Getting the say-so from Karen, Alex walked in, carefully closing the door behind.

With the coffee mug in one hand and the paper bag in his other, Alex stood in front of Karen silently, without saying a word.

“Take a seat. You are not in the army. Hahaha...” Karen tried to joke, only to laugh at it herself. While Alex just took the seat and did not say anything else. He was also trying to figure out how to make things less awkward.

“Ahem...” Clearing her throat, Karen adjusted herself, “So, how was it? Working with Daniel, I mean. I hope he did not boss you around,” Karen asked, composing herself. Karen did not want to let the silence grow. Otherwise, soon it will make things awkward and hard to continue between them.

Karen had long made her mind that it was mostly her fault that day, and she was not going to shy away from accepting her mistake. On top of that, no matter how much she denied it, Karen knew it herself that the closeness between Alex and Margaret did affect her.

.....

“No... Not at all. He is a great guy, and I got to know a lot of this and that from him,” Alex said. What Alex was talking about were the things Daniel told Alex about Karen. Her past, personality and a few other things. They were nothing fancy but small things about her. While Karen thought that Alex was the stuff related to work that Daniel could potentially guide him with.

Karen nodded, “That’s good. He is one of those people you want to have a good relationship with. And you should use this opportunity to bond closer with him...” Karen was serious in her advice.

“... I am not asking you to become a sycophant or something,” Karen continued while shaking her head, “You should be sincere with him. Be whoever you are. He is the type of guy who will try and help you out even if he has to go out of his way if you are his friend.”

Hearing Margaret, it finally clicked to Alex. Her words were along the same line as Daniel predicted. Daniel was spot on. There was indeed another motive behind Karen sending him there despite having no real experience in that field.

Karen knew that Daniel was in desperate need of some legs. And it was not just Karen, but Daniel went around asking for help wherever he could. Still, instead of sending someone from among the ladies, Karen sent Alex, an intern. Though Alex didn’t do anything much except for some leg work and going around trying to sniff out stuff, Karen did not know it. According to Karen, it was an opportunity for Alex to learn something and form some kind of acquaintance with Daniel.

“You should know that though the last few days were hard for the company, for the likes of you and Amber, this crisis was an opportunity. And I don’t know about you, but Amber has milked the cow really well. I hope you did not blow it up,” Karen looked at Alex, trying to find out how he did it from his facial expressions. ℯ.

“I think I did fairly well,” Alex didn’t have much change in his expressions. Whatever the crisis and opportunity Karen was talking about, it didn’t mean much to him anyway. Alex had already made up his mind, and he was going to submit his resignation today and concentrate on the matter concerning Margaret.

“I hope so,” Karen nodded, “The company is not going to brush away the contribution of its employees. Everyone involved in helping the company sail through these turbulent times will surely get some type of incentive going forward. Amber will get some, and yours will depend on what Daniel has to say.”

“What benefits?” Alex got curious. If it was something like a bonus, he would not mind pushing his resignation by a week or two.

“I don’t know yet,” Karen shook her head, “But discussions are going around. I have also been asked for some suggestions,” Karen told Alex, “Ultimately, it’s all in the hands of Jessica.”

“I...” Alex wanted to talk about his intention to resign, but he was cut short by Karen.

“Well, you don’t have to worry much about it,” Karen continued, “I am sure you would have done fine.”

Seeing Karen’s enthusiasm, Alex finally decided to drop the matter about his resignation for now.

This was followed by some silence. Now that Karen had beaten around the bush for a while, she still did not know how to bring in the topic from that day and apologise.

Karen was afraid of this silence only from the beginning. But now that the flow of the conversation had been broken, Alex and Karen could do nothing but stare at each other’s faces showing their teeth to one another from time to time.

“I am sorry...”

“I wanted to apologise...”

After a couple of minutes of staring at each other and contemplating, Alex and Karen opened their mouth at the same time to apologise. This again led to an awkward moment followed by smiles blooming on their faces.

“Go ahead...” Karen asked Alex to continue.

“I just wanted to apologise for my unruly behaviour the other day. It was childish and immature of me to bring your hobo... I mean husband between us and that too in front of everyone else,” Alex tried to apologise, “I have no right to comment on your relationship with your husband. And for that, I would like to sincerely apologise,” Alex apologised, looking straight into her eyes.

“I was frustrated, and it got the better of me. I know it is no excuse for my behaviour, and I am not trying to justify it either. I know it can be hard for you to just sweep it under the carpet as if nothing happened, and I don’t hold you for that. I just want to let you know that...” Alex was going on and on about his misbehaviour that day, and Karen got kind of irritated.

“I think you have said enough,” Karen interrupted, “To be fair to you, it was me who started it all. So how about both of us sideline ourselves from this emotional reunion?” Karen asked, suggesting a way out.

Since it was Karen suggesting it, Alex nodded, “I think it’s a good idea.”

“Is this for me?” Karen asked, changing the subject and pointing at the paper bag and coffee in Alex’s hand.

“Yeah, I brought it for everyone along the way,” Alex replied, scratching his nose, “I thought it would be a good idea to smoothen out things between us with a nice coffee.”

“You are not thinking of getting away just with this, are you?” Karen asked as she stretched her arm to pick up the coffee, “Don’t forget, you still have to fulfil three wishes of mine. I have the I owe you to prove it,” Karen made Alex recall.

“I know,” A lex said as he grabbed the paper bag with sandwiches and pushed them towards Karen, “When are you going to redeem those wishes of yours? The longer you take, you might lose the chance to get them fulfilled,” Alex said. And he felt it was true to some extent if he were to leave Theation.

“No... No... No...” Karen was quick to wave her finger in front of Alex, “Don’t even think of backing off. I won’t let you do it.” Karen warned Alex.

“I am not trying to write off anything, but if I had an idea about the direction you are thinking in, it would make it easier for me to prepare myself,” Alex tried to pry into her mind.

“Oh well, I have not really given it a thought, to be honest,” Karen shrugged as she sipped on her coffee, “Unhh... Ah... Don’t tell me you are afraid?” Karen tried to tease Alex.

“Me? And Afraid?” Alex asked, pointing at himself, “Not a chance. I am just worried that you might wanna do something weird with a handsome guy like me.” Alex winked at Karen as he tried to point at something.

“Cough! Cough!” Karen choked on her coffee as she heard him. With teary eyes, she looked at him, “Weird? What do you mean by weird?” Karen asked.

“You know... Stuff like when a boss blackmails their cute, innocent juniors with unspoken rules, giving them hopes of promotions and other benefits,” Alex said shaking his head, “I don’t suppose you are into that stuff, but who knows.” Alex shrugged.

“What the fuck!!” Karen could not believe her ears and cried out. With her eyes wide open, she could not look away from Alex, ‘What goes in that brain of his?’ Karen thought. This was not the first time Alex bluntly came forward with whatever was in his mind. During his interview also, he got lost in explaining the back of a woman to her and the others.

“Do you think I am that hungry for se... for that, that I would just gobble anything that comes my way?” Karen glared at Alex with anger, but there was also some embarrassment, “I am not that desperate.” Karen hit back at Alex.

“But you are desperate?” Now Alex had a smirk on her face.

“You...” Karen was at a loss for words. Breathing heavily, she tried to compose herself, but it was no use.

“I give you a finger, and you want it all,” Karen said. She picked up the sandwich from the table and threw it at Alex, “Get out, you stinky br...” Karen was about to call Alex a brat in her anger but managed to stop herself. The only condition mentioned in that I owe you was that Karen has to abstain from calling Alex a kid, a brat or any other synonym of these words. And Karen managed to remember it at the crucial moment.

“I won’t mind holding that finger of yours,” Alex said as he hurriedly made his way out of there before Karen could find anything to throw at him.

“Rascal, nasty, stinky...” Karen, on the other hand, was left fuming and cursing in anger, “Brat...” Karen murmured as she looked at her finger.

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