16 Chapter 16

CC Headquarters

Leo's schedule was tight, but he still decided to pass by her office that morning. Kro's safety was his priority. It was finally time to begin with the extinction of the odd ones.

Kro was busy going through one file which seemed to have grabbed all her attention. But when Leo walked inside the office, she felt alarmed. Whenever Leo popped up like that, she knew something had gone wrong. And just like that, she put the file away.

Leo had to rush to the point. He had no time in his hands, even sitting down was off the table. He started talking as soon as he closed the door behind him,

"Good morning, walking dead",

"I don't think it's a good morning anymore after you popped out of nowhere", she escorted him with her eyes till he got to her desk.

"Code blue, Kro! You have an audience",

"Come on, not again!",

"Jipan called me yesterday, he just got information about it, but again the bugs might have been watching you even before that",

"Shit!",

"Also, remember the 2 photos of you that went missing?",

"The one from 1944 and 1968? Please tell me you found them",

"No, they possess them now, the bugs",

Kro was bothered, it bothered her. If she had a heart, then probably it would've been racing.

"So, what are you going to do?",

"Jipan suggested this, and I think it makes sense. He said one of the bugs might be working in this building with you",

"I thought you screened everyone_",

"You hired a new batch, walking dead. It might be one of them",

"Shoot! How did I miss that?", she leaned back, incapacitated,

"You have a lot going on in your life, we understand if you miss something like this, and that's why my family is always here to back you up. You don't have to worry about anything, we'll catch these fuckers", Leo assured her,

"Tell me your plan",

"Give the HR a heads up, I need the files of everyone you hired recently, I'll stop by his office to pick them up as soon as I leave this room",

"Nice start, I'll call him right now, start heading there",

"Okay, have a great day, try not to think about it too much",

"Why would I? When I have the best team",

She flashed him an assuring smile, one of the things which motivated Leo to do a great job. Why? Because he loved to see her happy, she deserved it.

.....

OUTSIDE KRO'S OFFICE

Misaki stared at the door, her whole body agreeing that it was a bad idea for her to go and ask her about it. She also didn't want her father's visit to be useless, she needed to do that for him,

"(He promised to come apologize by the way, I can at least do this for him)", she inwardly thought,

She quickly made up her mind to go inside. But as she held the doorknob, someone else twisted it from the inside and pulled the door open. She remained standing with her arm stretched out, fingers crossed that it wasn't Kro.

Leo was a bit startled to find Misaki standing so close to the door, and when their eyes met, he suddenly believed in fate. She was someone he wished to see, and it happened just like he imagined.

Misaki gave out a short sigh of relief, her hand now resting on her chest. She was relieved to see him walking out instead of her boss

"Morning there, detective", Leo said brightly

"Good morning. Jesus, I'm relieved, I thought my heart would jump out of my chest",

"Why? You're here to see Kro, right?",

"I do, but what I want to ask her is crazy",

"How crazy?",

"You won't even get it",

"You know, Kro's been my friend for many years, I know a lot about her. So, if you're unsure whether to ask her or not, tell me the question first and I'll advice you to go ask her or not",

Misaki looked at Leo for a while, and he was making a point. He was her closest buddy, so he'd know if asking her is worth it or not.

"Come with me", said Misaki and led the way

Leo followed the lady, until they were a good distance away from the president's office. That was where she settled. She faced him,

"Did she tell you what happened on Friday night?", she commenced by asking,

"No, what happened?", Leo was really clueless,

"Miss Kro was in my father's blacklist, so last Friday he sent people to her house to beat her up!",

The news came out of the blue for him. The whole world seemed to stop for a second, and the only question that came out of his mouth first was,

"Are they alright?",

The question sounded wrong to Misaki,

"Aren't you supposed to be worried about her? She was the one facing 3 men, she could have died!",

"Misaki, you don't know who Kro is. She's a brutal fighter",

"Wh _ what do you mean?",

"Other fighters love the sound of their enemies groaning in pain, but do you know what sound Kro likes the most? Bones breaking!",

"Holy shit!",

"So, I think you need to warn your father next time",

"Wait, what I wanted to ask Kro wasn't about this. I do understand that some people are really good fighters. The thing I wanted to ask her is concerning the gunshot",

"Gunshot?", Leo was baffled,

"Yes", she whispered, "One of the men shot her at the back, I think somewhere close to the backbone. And then after some time, he started seeing the skin re-forming itself, and she wasn't bleeding",

That was a red flag, a mine ground. Leo became flustered, but he had to be careful with his reaction. From the story, he had every reason to believe that it really happened, he had to make sure the story ended there without spreading. His reaction towards it mattered a lot.

Misaki was surprised when Leo started laughing hard, as if what she said was funny. His reaction released some of the tense feeling in her chest. She gave out a chuckle too, at least someone found it funny instead of believing it,

"I guess _ I guess Kro punched him really hard", Leo chortled,

"I know right! What kind of person can do that? I was crazy to even think about it",

Leo rubbed a fake tear from his eye,

"Tell you what, don't even go ask her about this. I laughed, but maybe she'll get mad at your father for spreading such a rumor, I suggest you just forget about it, okay?",

"Okay, don't even tell her I told you about this",

"You got it. By the way, can I have your number?",

"Yeah, sure",

They exchanged numbers and Leo escorted her back to her team room. He then proceeded to the HR department to take what he went there for.

...…

Sue handed the two files she was holding to Kro, who had been waiting for them the whole day. She started going through them as Sue took her seat, waiting for the feedback from her boss. She looked both excited and nervous while waiting, she just hoped she'd love the products like the way the marketing team did,

"Velvety shadow palette and Icy summer set. They sound intriguing, but are you sure we should do a double release?", asked Kro after analyzing,

"I think we should because we have three types of customers here that we're targeting. We have customers who are obsessed with their eyes only, customers who don't care about the eyes but obsessed with their lips, and lastly customers who are obsessed with both",

"I think I'm convinced, let's do it",

Sue couldn't hide her excitement. She clapped sharp like a kid after blowing the candles on the birthday cake. Pleasing Kro was not easy, hence even reaching the level of convincing her was among the great achievements,

"I love how the eye cream never left the chart, I hope these products will be welcomed like that too", said Kro,

"I know they will, boss",

Kro closed the files and handed them back to her,

"By the way, has _ Ukraine showed up today?", she asked, lowkey worried about him,

"Yes, he did. He adapted very fast as if we've been with him from the beginning",

"Oh, that's good",

"What about you? How was your day without him assisting you?",

"Sue, it's not like I can't do anything without him, He was just a temporary, remember? We didn't get attached, so my day has been as it's always been",

"Okay if you say so. When will the new PA start working with you?",

"Tomorrow",

"That's good then, let me leave you now",

"Sure, good job, you and your team deserve a bonus",

"And a congratulatory dinner with you too, right?", added Sue

"Yeah, sounds great, just plan the day and then inform me",

"Sure, right on it, boss!",

Sue got up and happily walked out of the office.

Among all the jobs she had been doing over the centuries, being the CEO of CC had been the best so far. She couldn't imagine being someone else anymore.

.....

EVENING

LIQUOR STORE

Kro was going to visit Loro that evening, and she had to buy her favorite drink for a respectful sip while at the columbarium. It was tradition. The challenge was that Loro's taste was different from hers, she enjoyed wine, but Loro was a whisky person.

She already had a bottle of whisky in the cart, she was just looking around for a perfect tonic,

"Mh! She enjoyed having this", she inwardly thought to herself as she took a tonic bottle from the shelf, "I think it will suit her_",

"That's my favorite tonic brand too, I guess we have the same taste!", said a man behind her,

Kro turned around to see the source of that voice, and who she met turned out to be the person who showed up at her office without an appointment, Song.

"I'm sorry, my mind was somewhere else, did you say something?", asked Kro, not showing any expression that she remembered him, she looked at him like he was a stranger,

"Yeah, I said the bottle of tonic you're holding happens to be my favorite too",

"Great, but it's not really my favorite, I don't drink tonic",

"Wrong guess then", Song chuckled embarrassedly,

"Yeah",

She put the bottle in the cart and started walking away from him. Song grabbed another tonic bottle and started following her. He wasn't satisfied with the talk they just had. He managed to catch up with her speed. Kro didn't budge, she just kept walking, quietly,

"So, I was wondering if you remember me", asked Song

"You're that parent that showed up without an appointment", she maintained her calm,

"Yes, that's right, Mr. Fang, in case you forgot my name",

"Thanks for reminding me",

"So, err _ I just got out from work myself, and I need a drinking buddy! Since you're also buying drinks, I see we can use each other's company, what do you think?",

"I can't, I'm going to see someone",

"Don't mind me asking, but who is that person? Your man, maybe?",

"No",

"Friend?",

"No",

"Col_",

"My daughter",

Song instantly halted. He kind of wasn't expecting that answer from her. He started wondering if she was serious or just said that to chase him away. Kro was now a few steps in front of him. He sped up and caught onto her again,

"I never thought you had a daughter; you look so young", he proceeded,

"Thanks", said Kro,

"How old is she? She must be old enough to consume alcohol I suppose",

"Very old enough",

"Well, I'm not busy, we can go see her together. I'll distance myself so I don't seem nosy, I just want to see her",

"You can't!",

"Why? Is she the shy type?",

Kro couldn't take it any longer. She paused. The grips holding the cart handle tightened. He wasn't getting any idea that she never wanted him around and she hated people whose minds were slow like his. She had to be real with him, in a serious way.

"She's not the shy type, she's the dead type! My daughter is dead and I'm going to visit her grave right now. In case you haven't noticed, I don't really want to talk to anyone",

"I ne_",

"Don't think I haven't noticed your car following me since I left my office. I don't know what your deal is, but I'm 100% not interested. Just buy your drink and go!",

She proceeded pushing her cart and walked away from him, leaving him standing dumbfounded.

Getting that woman was never going to be easy, her words just slapped him in the face hard, making him more interested. He loved a challenge.

*****