My Stubborn Boss

Natalie got up from her seat and sighed before walking towards Kenzo's office. "What have I done now?" she said to herself as she walked.

She walked slowly and as she approached his office her heart began to beat rapidly.

She reached his office and Jay, Kenzo's secretary, greeted her. "Please understand, he has been in a bad mood this morning." Jay told her.

Natalie nodded and did not answer. Jay knocked on the door and informed Kenzo that Natalie was already there. "Miss Lewis is here, sir." He said and opened the door to his office.

Kenzo did not answer.

Jay motioned for him to come in.

Kenzo stood looking at the open glass window behind him and turned around when he sensed Natalie was already inside. "Leave us." He said and took the folder with her design that she made.

Jay nodded and left them there.

Natalie closed her eyes and breathed heavily, then walked slowly and stood in front of his desk.

"Did you do this?" Kenzo said while holding a folder.

"Yes." She replied. "Sir." She added and bit her lips.

Kenzo aggressively threw Natalie's folder to the ground. "What a waste!" He said with his face unhinged.

Natalie looked at her designs shattered on the floor and said nothing.

"Your designs are too old," Kenzo said sincerely, "How long have you been in this industry?" he asked her, "You work like a rookie." He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Five years," Natalie replied quietly.

Kenzo scoffed. "Tsk! Stop wasting my time and do something better," Kenzo told her. And turned around and looked towards the window behind him that overlooked the other buildings nearby.

Natalie closed her eyes and tried her best not to cry in humiliation. She sat down on her knees and picked up her design on the floor.

"I need new designs. I've had enough of the old styles," Kenzo told her.

Natalie took a breath and stood up. "I'll do it again, sir." She said and turned around.

Kenzo looked at her back. "I need new designs now!" He told her before walking out of his office.

Jay stood up as Kenzo's office door opened. "Are you done?" He asked her.

Natalie smiled with sad eyes. "Yes, thank you." She said and walked towards her desk.

Jay sighed as he followed her with his eyes.

Natalie returned to her seat and sighed.

"Are you okay? What did he say?" Tanya asked Natalie.

"I'm fine." Natalie said and did not answer the second question. She set the draft aside and began researching modern designs to draw inspiration from.

She closed her eyes for a moment to compose herself. "You don't have time to think about what he said, okay? You can do this." She said to herself and typed into her computer.

She started searching and browsing through the trendy interior designs that people want for their homes today. She looked for modern and high-end designs that she could draw inspiration from. She tilted her head as she looked and made notes that she should remember when making drawings like the ones she had seen.

Natalie leaned back in her chair and massaged the side of her head. "I feel like I'm studying again." She said and continued to browse for a moment and then began to draw from the things she saw and looked up.

She drew in her sketchbook which appeared directly on his computer.

"Believe in yourself, Natalie! Do the best you can."

She paused and then kept drawing and when she was done, she printed it out and went straight to Kenzo's office.

Jay stood up when he saw Natalie walking towards Kenzo's office with a disheveled look on her face. "Are you done yet?" He said and looked at the wall clock above Kenzo's office door.

Natalie nodded. "May I come in?" she asked him.

Jay pressed the button on his desk. "Miss Lewis is here, sir." He said, then the door opened.

Natalie took a heavy breath and then walked in, walked slowly to the desk and put her folder there.

 Kenzo looked at the folder and then at her. He opened it silently and saw the first design. "Again," He said, and put the draft aside.

Natalie closed her eyes trying to calm herself and walked out of Kenzo's office.

"Do you approve now?" asked Jay to Natalie.

Natalie shook her head. "I wish." She laughed a little and then went back to her desk.

She inhaled and exhaled, then stretched her fingers. She started again. This time she kept flipping through more and would look for more designs to have drafts that she would pass on later.

Lunchtime came. "Natalie, shall we go?" Tanya invited her to lunch.

She looked at her and smiled, "I'll eat later." She told them.

Tanya sighed. "I'll buy you coffee," she said, and they went to eat.

"Okay, thanks." Natalie answer.

Kenzo came out of his office and his eyes landed on Natalie, who was massaging the tip of her nose while looking at her computer.

Jay stood up and looked at where he was looking.

"Let's go get our food delivered." Kenzo said and walked into his office.

Jay nodded and ordered his food and gave Natalie a sandwich as well.

"Here." Jay put the sandwich on her desk.

Natalie leaned back in her chair slowly and looked at him with an unfocused face. Jay's eyes avoided her, she smiled. "Thank you." She told him.

Jay sighed. "Okay, you're welcome. Good luck!" He said, then leaving Natalie.

She smiled and set the sandwich aside, then continued drawing. Her officemates came back after her lunch. "I put your coffee in the pantry," Tanya said.

"Thank you." Natalie said as she looked at her work and printed it out.

She went to Kenzo's office and, as usual, Kenzo put his work aside with the second paper he did. "Again made it better," he said simply.

Natalie clenched her fist and walked out of his office.

She forgot about the coffee and sandwich she was given and continued working again.

Every time she finished she went straight to her office only to hear the same word. "Again."

Her office mates started to go home one after another. She looked around. There were only a few of them. She looked at the clock and after a few minutes she would be there again. She sighed. "Let's get this done." She said and concentrated again.

"See you tomorrow, Nath." Her officemates said goodbye to her.

She smiled at him, she looked at the clock, and it was about 7, so she printed out her work. She didn't want to be alone there again. She walked to her office and saw that Jay was not there.

"He left?" she said as she looked at Jay's desk and was about to turn back when she saw a small light between the blinds of his office. "He didn't leave?" She said and opened his office door slowly. "I'm glad to know he still has a conscience." She said and closed the door carefully.

Natalie raised an eyebrow when she saw him leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed. She stared at him for a moment and moved closer to his face. "He has a very pretty face." She said to herself as she looked down at his brow to his full red lips. "You look like an angel when you sleep." She whispered.

She gently shook his shoulders to wake him up.

Kenzo opened his eyes. "What are you doing?" he said to her, her warm, sweet scent reaching his nose.

Natalie's eyes widened, and she immediately took a step back. "Good evening sir, here is my eraser." She said and handed him her folder with her fingers crossed. 

Kenzo took it silently and fixed his posture. He opened it and said nothing on the first few pages. He took his pen and recorded a few things in his draft. "The ones I circled, change them." He told her.

Natalie closed her eyes. "At least he didn't tell me to repeat everything." She said to herself and picked up her folder slowly.

"Do it tomorrow." Kenzo told her.

Natalie nodded, "Yes, sir." He replied and left.

She walked to her desk and there she saw the sandwich Jay gave her. She took it and ate it while she put her things in her bag with the eraser she had just made. She looked around her office. "Did he wait for my draft?" He pouted and waited for the lights to go out. He stood there for a few minutes and then went out.

The elevator was closing, so Kenzo ran to get it to go up. Kenzo stretched his arms so they wouldn't close.

Natalie's eyes widened at the sight of his arm. "Oh God," She said and put her hands on her chest. She closed her lips when she saw it was Kenzo.

Kenzo climbed up silently.

Natalie lowered her head. "Why do I feel embarrassed?" She said to herself. "Of course, you made your boss wait for you." She said and closed her eyes.

The elevator opened. Kenzo walked to the entrance of the building where his car was waiting for him. He stopped.

She waited for him to get out first and then walked after him. She sighed as she walked slowly, still lowering her head, and then bumped into something. "Fu-" She stopped immediately when she saw that she had bumped into Kenzo's back. She closed her eyes again. "I'm sorry sir." He said and didn't wait for his reply and walked back.

"Get in, I'm leaving you." Kenzo said, making Natalie turn around. She was confused but walked to her car.

Kenzo went inside and looked at her. He watched her stand for a moment. "What are you doing?" he said without taking his eyes off her.

Natalie held the front seat door but Kenzo opened the back seat door.

He looked at her. "Really?" He said as he looked at her.

"What are you waiting for?" said Kenzo to her. Natalie smiled a little and turned on her side and then took a sharp breath before sitting down next to Kenzo.