Chapter 6

"Yes, ma'am," the little floozie answered uneasily.
After all she seemed to know who had just entered the elevator. Good. Catherine continued to assess her in silence, whereupon Kenna began to nervously move from one leg to the other.
On the sixth floor the elevator opened with a soft ringing tone. When she stepped out, Catherine noticed out of the corner of her eye the relieved expression on the face of the other woman.
"A word, Kenna," she demanded without looking at the girl and determinedly went into her office where she left the door open.

Catherine barricaded herself behind her desk and let her gaze glide over the younger woman once again as soon as she'd entered the room. Her silent pattern seemed to unnerve Kenna, as did her wolfish smile.
"How is it going with the employee surveys preparations?" She inquired straightforward after several seconds of silence had passed between them. Catherine consciously decided not to offer a seat to Henry's little slut.
"Um, actually pretty good," Kenna nervously managed to answer all the while playing with the silver bracelet she wore around her left wrist. Probably Henry's gift.

"Really? How come I did not receive the preliminary questionnaire yet?" Catherine slowly closed the noose that the young woman had placed around her own neck due to her negligence.
"Oh, well, because I'm not quite finished yet. There is not much left to do but you have to understand that I first have to familiarize myself with all divisions in order to pinpoint the respective weak points and then include them into the questionnaire." Kenna, who was obviously pleased with her answer, beamed at Catherine as if she expected a praise for her good work.
"As far as I know you are only responsible for the preparation of the questions based on the template you have been provided with and not for a detailed problem analysis. Because - technically speaking - that's exactly the very reason we're preparing an employee survey in the first place." Catherine raised an eyebrow and looked at Kenna provocatively.
"Well, I thought I could play a greater part in these surveys. After all, the mere questioning is a task..."

At this point, the female CEO interrupted the younger woman abruptly.
"For interns who are expected to do exactly what they are told to do and not what they think they should do. This company only operates as good and successfull as it is because everyone knows where their responsibilities and task panes lie. There is no room for bumptious little upstarts who are still wet behind their ears. You were entrusted with one simple, well-defined assignment, Kenna. A task you haven't fulfilled until now.
An internship in a company like ours is a huge opportunity. One you obviously do not appreciate. So unfortuntely I don't see any possibility of further collaboration, Kenna. I'm sorry, but I have to ask you to pack your things and leave. Immediately."

Catherine slowly rose and circled her desk. Kenna just stood motionless in the middle of the room, staring at her in utter shock.
"Well, I think that would be all then," Catherine said and pointed at the door in a resolute manner.
"But ... you cannot fire me! Henry ... I mean, Mr. Valois has personally employed me, he's certainly going to object if you just fire me now," the stupid whore stammered and induced Catherine to build herself up right in front of the young woman.
"I'm afraid you've slept with the wrong CEO. I am the one being responsible for all personnel matters in this company, not Henry. And now, get out of my sight or I'll have you kicked out by our security staff, Kenna." Catherine snarled and the sharpness of her words made the girl immediately take flight.

With a triumphant smile Catherine sat back down at her desk and tossed Kenna's file into the bin, entirely complacent and pleased with herself.

Thirty minutes later her office door was torn open and Henry stormed into the room, uninvited and quite visibly angry. Catherine who was currently in a telecom, pressed the mute button on her phone and looked at her husband in annoyance. She could already guess what or more accurately who had upset him this much. So the little bitch had wrapped him so tightly around her little finger that he actually descend to bother her personally on Kenna's behalf.

"Catherine, this behaviour is inacceptable" he stated firmly. She just sighed theatrically.
"Exactly! Knock if you want to come in. I'm right in the middle of a conference", Catherine told him while playing the clueless.
"You know very well what I'm talking about. Usually I never interfere in personnel matters, but this time..."
Catherine cut him off.
"I would rather call it complete lack of interest. Henry, that will have to wait. As you can see I don't have time for your childish games."
To demonstrate that she was serious about it, she unpressed the mute button and commented on a statement one of the conference attendees had made.

Her husband rounded her desk, leaned over his wife and said in a firm and resolute voice:
"Excuse my interference, but unfortunately I have to alienate my wife for a matter of utmost urgency. She will call you back." Then he ended the conversation by simply hanging up.
Catherine stared at him dumbfounded, her mouth slightly open, before she rose and glared at him angrily.
"How dare you interupt an important telecon with Smith & Millers like this? Do you have any idea how annoyed the senior partner was about our erroneous implementation of their new project and how long it took me to pour oil on troubled water and to convince him to give us another chance to prove ourselves?" Her indignation was written all over her face and Catherine had a good mind to wring her husband's neck.

"Nothing you can't fix. Later. Now we have to talk about one of your personnel decisions you've made without consulting me first." Catherine rolled her eyes, feeling irritated. She knew where his sudden interest in Human Resources came from. How could Henry only put his slut's selfish needs above the concerns of their customers?

"Are you out of your mind?!" She screamed and pushed him back angrily to create some distance between them.
"Why? I just would like to speak to you about some personnel matters – factual and without yelling. Do you think that is possible? Kenna Arnold did nothing wrong. And she needs the job. The poor girl was in tears."
"Factual?" Catherine's voice cracked with anger. "Are you kidding me?! Let me clarify one thing: You are right, she did do nothing wrong - but only because she did nothing at all! Niente. And lazy, inefficient employees - you'll certainly agree with me on that point - have no future with Val Sec. Not even when they sleep around and fuck their manager. And her name is Albert, Henry, not Arnold."

After she had given vent to her annoyance, Catherine went straight to the door and held it open for her husband. For her this conversation was clearly over.
"Catherine, why is my affair suddenly such a big issue for you? I thought we... "Henry started to question but his wife interrupted him brusquely.
"For Christsake, Henry. You can fuck whoever you want. But stop offering your bed bunnies a platform here. Please be professional for once and separate your private shit from your work-related one."

"Just like you? An ice queen through and through, whether here or in our...", she did not let him finish his sentence but raised her right hand to his chest and pushed him with full force towards her door.
"Don't you dare, Henry," she hissed, feeling a rush of anger seize her and shake her body.

"Are you crazy?" The surprise and affright on his face gave her some satisfaction. She watched Henry raise his hands as if he wanted to grab her. Then all of a sudden he stopped his hands motionless in the air as soon as he realized what he was about to do. His hesitation elicited Catherine a bitter laugh.
"Go. Just go, "she murmured and the thought that he saw nothing but a victim in her pierced her heart like an icy thorn. A victim that would shatter into a million pieces at any rough treatment, any intimate touch, crippled by fear. Maybe he wasn't even wrong. She was the ice queen. The thought that she was made of nothing more but ice and an all-consuming frostiness crossed her mind actually quite often.
"Catherine..." This time, a simple wave of her hand was all it took to silence Henry. Without another word he turned and left the room. He quietly closed the door behind him.

A strange sound escaped her throat. Half a sob, half a laugh.
"You abject coward," she whispered after him. She did not even know why she wished for him to not draw in his horns just once but rather burst through her defensive wall that she had erected between them in her desperate helplessness.

Puh, what do you think? Is there still any chance left for them? I can at least promise you that some more interaction will follow in the next chapters. They are far from being finished with each other.

Many thanks for your kind reviews, my dears!

And a Merry Christmas to all of you.