519 A Maid of Honor's Duty

November 29—Thursday

After the stressful situation yesterday, Damien and Katherine had to be more careful from now on. With a lot of things going on around them, that morning on their way to work, they decided to reevaluate what they should tackle first. And like what they had planned yesterday, Damien would go to the lab with Chris to settle the matter as soon as possible.

At eight in the morning, Damien drove Katherine to work in his Range Rover. They talked about moving back to the Pearl Gardens house, thinking if it would be better for them. Pearl Gardens wasn't very far from the center of the city. Still, Golden Phoenix Residences was just overall better at the moment as it seemed to be more convenient for them—especially since they had been moving around at random times of the day lately.

"We'll talk more about it when I come back later," he said as he pulled the car to the side of the road. Worried that she still had sniffles, he asked, "Are you sure you'll be okay today? Why don't you take the day off?"

"I'm okay, don't worry about me. I can't stand not doing anything at home, so I should go to work," she replied. Her brows slightly knitted as she looked at him. She couldn't help but feel heavy as she thought about where he was heading to that morning. "I'm more worried about you that you're going near the base. I keep thinking of going with you…"

Cupping her face, Damien brushed his thumb on her cheek and smiled, reassuring her that everything will be okay. "I'll be in and out faster than you think—fifteen minutes tops inside the lab. We'll use a different car too, so there's no need for you to worry. I'll call you on the way back."

Nodding, she didn't have a choice but to trust him. Katherine leaned in and placed a kiss on his lips before she got out of the car and watched him drive away. Wearing a slightly loose-fitting long-sleeved blush top and pencil cut black midi skirt, she looked sophisticated and elegant. Not far from her, Noah had just parked his car, and he stayed in proximity. Because Felix had to lay low for the meantime, Damien assigned Noah to stay near her. 

Just as she headed towards the office entrance, a couple of paparazzi and reporters blocked her way, snapping pictures and asking her questions. She had somewhat expected that this would happen soon since Young Corporation and Crown Resort Group released statements yesterday regarding the official partnership between the two companies. Also, the groundbreaking ceremony was only a few days away. 

This initiated another bout of buzz in the media, and Katherine was honestly growing tired of it when they asked about her relationship with Damien. It's been almost a week since the bidding ended—shouldn't they have gotten enough of it?

Keeping her face expressionless, she put on sunglasses and continued walking, ignoring the questions being thrown at her.

"Thank you," said Katherine as they walked towards the elevators.

A smile broke his handsome face, but he kept his eyes straight ahead. "It must be tough dating a big shot."

Not knowing what to say, she softly chuckled and they got in the elevator. In her mind, she said to herself, 'Big shot or not, she'd gladly choose Damien over anyone else in a heartbeat.'

Her thoughts were interrupted when her phone buzzed in her purse. She answered it right away when she saw that it was Alianna. The latter asked her out for lunch, and she agreed to meet her at a restaurant downtown.

…

Jade Oriental Restaurant

Katherine waited for Ali at a table by the window. She was here for lunch with Damien yesterday and had found a liking to the dishes that they served, which was why she suggested this place to the other earlier. But since they didn't call to make a reservation, they could only dine at the open floor area of the restaurant instead of dining in one of the private rooms. 

Alianna arrived a couple of minutes after her, and they were now waiting for their orders to be served.

"So, you two are engaged again?" Ali excitedly clarified after Katherine told the news of her engagement with Damien. The two hugged as Ali congratulated her friend. "You're finally going to get married, right? No more setbacks this time?"

"Well… We haven't really talked about specifics yet. So, it won't be anytime soon. You'll be the bride-to-be for a while, don't worry!" replied Katherine.

Her response made Alianna laugh. "You're right. Let me enjoy it for a bit. I don't get to be the bride all the time."

"What do I need to do as your maid of honor?" Katherine asked. "I don't really have experience in that area, so I did a little research… I guess I need to throw you a bachelorette party. Do you have any preferences in mind?"

"Oh, my god! Let's go to Vegas! I wanna do the whole shebang!" When Katherine arched a brow in question, she added, "Oh, come on! I wanna do everything. That would be awesome! I only have a couple of friends to invite, so there wouldn't be a lot of girls, but I'm pretty sure we will have so much fun!"

Katherine watched the other get all excited, she took a sip of her water and said, "When you say everything… You don't mean including male strippers, right? Would Caleb be alright with that?"

Alianna was already shopping for clothes—for her and Katherine—for her bachelorette party that Katherine would plan, so her eyes were glued to her phone when she responded without thinking much, "He doesn't have to know. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Besides, I'm certain that Damien and the others would also prepare something wild for him. It's them after all…"

"What do you mean?" Katherine wondered, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she leaned towards the table.

A chuckle escaped Alianna's lips when she glanced at Katherine and saw her curiosity. "Oh, Sweetie. Don't you remember the summer party tradition? Those three threw all kinds of parties... and their bachelor parties were always wild."

"Huh… You don't say…" Katherine muttered under her breath, her index finger tapping against her arm as Damien's image at a wild party formed in her mind.