Chapter 597: Turning the Page Isn't Easy

After a round in the shower, Katherine and Damien washed up and stepped out. He changed into a fresh pair of loungewear while she grabbed new underwear from the closet and the black dress shirt he wore last night and threw it on her.

When she turned around, he was staring at her with a grin on his face. "What?"

He walked the distance between them and pulled her into his arms, kissing her neck and speaking against her skin. "I like seeing you in my shirt. I can't keep my hands off you. Are you doing this on purpose?"

"Maybe." She smiled, sliding her hands around his neck. "I love your scent on me."

"Good." He kissed her lips. "I love my scent all over you, too. Don't wear anything else."

Katherine giggled when he playfully bit her ear. "I'm starving. Feed me."

"How can I say no? I'd feed you anything you want, baby." Damien took her hand and they went to the kitchen downstairs.

While he was fixing them breakfast, she sat at the nook and watched him. Though they didn't get to go away for a short vacation outside of the city, she was able to rest and came back to health while staying close to Damien all the time. Since they were living in his old penthouse in CRG's main building, she also helped him with work stuff from time to time.

At first, he didn't want her to do anything, but she insisted on working some secretarial jobs for him because she was bored just sitting around all day. After a few convincing, he finally let her do what she wanted as long as it didn't strain her. Most of them were just her helping him with his schedule and organizing his papers. Very menial tasks that she enjoyed doing, which also helped to keep her mind off some things she didn't want to think about—like the people they lost last December.

Apart from office work, Katherine also asked if Damien could set up some cooking classes for her. Sometimes, she'd finish office tasks before lunchtime, and there were just a lot of idle times in the afternoon. She was happy when he allowed her to. Since she wasn't a total beginner in the kitchen, it wasn't hard for her to learn new recipes. He kindly asked a favor from the chef he used to learn from who was happy to teach her. Since the first week of January, Katherine had been having an hour of cooking class two times a week which was held in the hotel's enormous kitchen.

A smile grew on her face when she saw Damien plating the leftover lasagna she baked last Friday with Chef Thomas along with some garlic bread that he made just now fresh from the oven. Well, he didn't make the bread from scratch, but he sliced up some baguette and slathered it with butter, garlic, and parsley.

"What are you smiling about?" he probed when he set the plates on the table.

"Nothing. I just enjoy watching you." She smiled and laced their hands when he sat next to her.

"God, this lasagna is amazing. You're amazing," Damien told her after chewing and swallowing a bite. Then he shoveled another one into his mouth.

Katherine chuckled. She reached for a table napkin and wiped the sauce from his mouth. "Thank you. It was fun making that."

"We should add it to the hotel and restaurant's specialties. You think you can come up with your own version...maybe add some things here and there to make it your own? Don't get me wrong, this is already fantastic. But we can't steal Chef's recipe and call it yours. So let's borrow it and tweak it."

Her shoulders shook as she threw her head back, laughing. "You're crazy. I don't think I've reached that far yet."

"I'm serious!"

"Okay, then how about we do it together? Let's make it our own version."

"Deal!" He smiled and tapped a finger on her nose. "What do you want to do today?"

Katherine thought about it for a minute, but she couldn't think of anything she wanted to do. She shrugged. "What do you want?"

Damien drank water and then wiped his mouth before facing her. "Let's go to the movies… I want to take you out."

"Movies, huh? President Park… Are you being romantic?" She squinted at him, then she nodded. "I'd love that."

Just then, he received a phone call from Markus. He excused himself to take it, and then after, he told her that he had to work on something in his office first for just half an hour. In the meantime, she could prepare, and they'd leave when she comes out.

Katherine went upstairs to the bedroom. She tried looking for a dress to wear but wasn't liking any. Looking down at herself, she thought that the dress shirt was long enough to be a mini dress to her. Instead of changing out of it, she wore a strapless bra underneath and a pair of warm white leggings since it was still a bit cold outside. When she got to the entrance of the penthouse, she put on her boots and strolled out. Damien was on his desk.

He looked up and his eyes raked her body from head to toe and then back up. "You kept my shirt. You look great. Let's go." He got up and left the office with her.

…

At the movie house, Katherine and Damien decided to watch an older movie that was showing as a throwback for that week. Dangerous Minds starring Michelle Pfeiffer—the Catwoman in the 90s.

While Damien went to get some snacks for them, Katherine stood by a pillar near the entrance of the theater. She watched the moviegoers falling in line and getting excited to watch the film with their partners or family. A figure on her periphery caught her attention, and she froze for a second when she caught a glimpse of the back of the man who was passing by the theater and was on his way to the corner. She craned her neck to look, but she could no longer see him.

Her heartbeat raced, and ever so quickly, she whipped out her phone and texted Styles.

[ Katherine: Styles, can you check? ],

A couple of minutes later, her phone buzzed.

[ Styles: Queen, you need to relax. I've asked Hughes just now. Parker is still very much in prison. ]

She exhaled a sigh and her heartbeat gradually went back to normal. It wasn't the first time that she panicked a little like this. Several weeks ago and also a few days ago, she had asked Styles the same question. The first time was after she woke up from a nightmare and the second time was when she thought she saw Parker at a supermarket somewhere just like what she saw now.

It was indeed insane if what she thought she saw was true. There would be no reason for Parker to stay in Harbor City wandering around like a local. Katherine thought she was going crazy.

"You okay? Shall we head inside?" Damien placed his hand over her shoulder, oblivious to her little scare.

"Yeah…" Katherine nodded with a smile, pushing away her thoughts at the back of her head. 'Shadow's over. Move on,' she reminded herself.