Another Chance Read online

  "I mean you even have the guts to call someone a sixteen-year-old yet your brain works like that of a six-year-old," she blurted out.

  "Whoa chill out lady... I didn't mean it that--" he began but couldn't finish his sentence before Katherine cut in again.

  "No. It's obvious that you are one of the frustrated and jobless American looking for someone to engage in their joblessness early in the morning, but I'm afraid it's not me." She went into her car, picked up her business card, then stomped right back to where he was standing.

  "Here. You can call my office if there is any problem," she said, handing him the card. "I'll be sure to pay for any damage or trauma. I hope there will be no charges though, but if there were to be, I'd contact my lawyer." She started to walk away, then turned around.

  “But I'm pretty sure it's a 50/50 fault anyway," before walking away from the scene and leaving him speechless.

  Katherine turned into the parking lot of her office with a smile on her face. She felt fulfilled. Right from when she was young she had always liked to have the last words or sentence during an argument. That feeling is heavenly; she would always tell Ashley. But this time was different. She still remembered the look on his face when she turned to walk away; it was priceless. He looked speechless. He had even opened his mouth to speak, but she simply walked away before he could start.

  "I can't believe I was attracted to that human for a short while. I'm disappointed in you Kathy," she said to herself as she turned off the engine. She handed her keys to the valet and smiled. Her phone rang loudly. It was Ashley. She quickly checked her watch and hurried into the nine-story building that housed the company.

  At nine o'clock in the morning, The Cosmopolitan News Station was already buzzing with activities. There were several modular workstations and cubicle desk, occupied by several people with different Job description such as the producers, IT staffs, engineers, writers, producers as well as the TV presenters and news anchors out of many. Her office was on the fifth floor. She worked as an anchor for a health show called Vitamins, but she wanted something more. She had started as a broadcast assistant at first but gradually climbed up in rank.

  "Ding," the elevator bell opened into the fifth floor. As she was about to step into her office, Ashley pulled her back and straight to a small room by the end of the hallway, filled with piles of old and worn out electronics.

  "What exactly happened? I've been worried sick about you."

  "It's a long story Ash," Katherine managed to say.

  She didn't even know where or how to start explaining how long and annoying her day had already been when it was just at around 9 am in the morning. Should she begin from her unlucky second round of sleep or how she forgot about the presentation she had or the worst of them all- her encounter with the handsome maniac? She sighed loudly. She had just called him handsome. Was she out of her mind? She needed to calm down and have a warm cup of coffee.

  "I'm going to tell you everything that happened after my presentation. Is that okay?"

  Ashley nodded with a smile.

  She pushed the door open and shut it with her back. With two cups of coffee in her hands, Ashley walked towards the table and handed one of them to Katherine, before settling into a chair in front of her.

  "So what did they say about it?" Katherine asked curiously. She had just finished her presentation, where she stammered almost through half of the presentation. Luckily for her, the time was reduced. If not, she felt she would give humiliated herself.

  "They are still talking. That's a good thing. I'm sure it's positive, so don't worry about it."

  "You think?" She sounded unconvinced.

  "I'm sure about it, trust me." She continued, "Now can you tell me about everything."

  And she did.

  Ashley glanced at the wall clock. It was a little over four o'clock, almost time to pick up her father. She picked up her keys and started towards the door. Then her phone rang. It was her father.

  "Just in time," she said as she hit the green button.

  "I'm just about to leave the office dad. I'll be there in like 15 minutes."

  "Oh honey, that was why I called. Don't bother to come. Your brother is going to drop us off at home. I know how busy you'll be with work so take your time and make sure you eat something. See you at home cupcake," he said, dropping the call.

  Katherine sighed out of relief. She was a bit happy that she wouldn't have driven all the way down there. Though she knew she wasn't supposed to be, then, it was her father that person told her not to worry, so it wasn't her fault.

  She stopped a bit to replay what he had said in her head. Your brother is dropping us off. She wondered what her father had meant by that. She was the only child. He probably made a mistake, she concluded. Her stomach made a churning sound that brought her sense back. She was famished.

  "I need to get something to eat." She said

  Katherine drove right into the garage just beside the house and turned the engine off. She stepped out of the car, locked it and walked towards the door sluggishly. She could hear music and voices-more than one- coming from inside. She wondered if her father was throwing a party. She got to the door and pressed the doorbell.

  "I'll get it." She could hear Susan's voice from inside the house. She wondered what she was doing there. Susan opened the door sharply and just hugged her so tight that she made a muffling sound. Then she released her, grinning hard. With a puzzled face, Katherine entered into the house, wondering what that was all about.

  "Hey honey!" her dad called out happily.

  "We have all been waiting for you. I almost couldn't wait to break the good news." He had a glass of wine in his hands. She wondered what the news was about, but she had a feeling that she wasn't going to like it.

  "Susan and I got married during the vacation, and she's going to be moving in! Isn't that great?" He squeaked. Her gut was right. She wasn't going to like it.

  "Why?" She blurted out. "I mean how?..like how did it happen...so fast?" She quickly corrected herself.

  "It just happened. He's in love with me, and I am in love with him too. So why not?" Susan answered, with a grin that showed all over her face.

  "Oh, that's great!" She managed to force a smile for her father's sake.

  Then she heard a sound coming from inside. She wondered who else was in the house.

  "Dad, did you have someone else over-"

  Before she could finish, a familiar face came out of a room and stood in front of her father.

  "It has been fixed," the stranger said.

  Katherine dimmed her eyes, trying to recollect his face. Then her eyes widened suddenly. Handsome maniac! What was he doing in her house? Could he have followed her home? That wouldn't make any sense since he got there before her. Then what? A stalker?!

  Her heart rate suddenly increased.

  Chapter 3

  "Meet Jake," her father said, making a gesture.

  "Your stepbrother."

  She felt her heart stop for a moment. Everything else felt inaudible as though she had been given a huge blow.

  "Wait, what?!" Katherine gathered herself together. Something had to be wrong somewhere. Stepbrother how? From who? Her father had another child outside all these while and never told her? What was the hell going on? So many thoughts flowed through her mind at that instance.

  "This is Susan's son, your stepbrother since we are already married. Isn't that how it works? And he just moved here from California." Mr. Cooper still sounded excited.

  Oh. She didn't see that coming at all. That was another way around it. But then Susan had a son? A grown up at that. How come nobody told her? What other thing have they kept away from her? Well, it wasn't entirely their fault. She was the one that didn't make any effort to know Susan or anything about her. So that leaves the blame on her.

  "This just got more interesting," Jake said stretching his hand forth for a handshake. "It's nice meeting you Katherine...and I promise I won't press cha
rges," he added with a scoff.

  Katherine just stared down at his hand and ignored it. He folded his hanging hand into a punch and just hit his thigh playfully.

  "Okay, I guess I'm just going to... check for any other leakages in the house." He walked backward away from her.

  "You guys know each other?" Susan asked.

  Of course, they did. Handsome maniac. He contributed to her lateness to work and her floppy presentation. How could she have forgotten about him? Now he was even going to be the brother which she never had, how annoying could it be? But it didn't matter, Katherine thought, there would be no problem since they won't get to meet again after this. She did that perfectly well for eight months; she could go much longer.

  She thought of an excuse to give as she couldn't wait to get into the comfort of her messy room, away from the whole drama.

  "Guys, errmm I'm not feeling too good right now, so I'm just gonna like... go in now. Congrats to you two by the way, even though you all kept it from me, especially your dad," she said, smiling.

  "Oh honey, that's the whole point of a surprise. If I had told you, it wouldn't have been a surprise anymore you know."

  "Right."

  Somehow she felt her father owed her an explanation. They were supposed to be close. Whatever happened to sharing everything? How could he do this behind her back? She would have felt better if it was just Susan joining the family, but now there was even a third party.

  She unlocked the door to her room. It was worse than she had pictured it to be. It made even her more frustrated. She sat on her bed and raised her legs to her laps to remove her heels. She threw them on the floor and lied down, facing the ceiling. She closed her eyes for a while; she could hear the clock ticking. She just wanted to remain that way. Her phone rang. It was Ashley. She picked it up.

  "Hello."

  "Hey girl, I've got good news." She squeaked.

  "It's been approved."

  "What has?"

  "The show durrh! You've been given the show. You're the new anchorman for Awake. Congrats honey."

  Katherine flung up from the bed.

  "No way... are you serious?" Her face lit up.

  "Yes, way. George overhead the old man telling Langley. And you know George, he knows the in and out of CNS. So he called me."

  And she was right. George was one of the broadcast assistants at CNS. He had been working there longer than anyone knew yet he never got promoted. He was like the gist guru of CNS. Some said the reason why they had not fired him was that he knew the owner, others said it was because he was one of the founding members. No one knew the truth. But if a piece of information was from him, then it was probably ninety-eight percent true.

  Kathy screamed with so loud that Ashley had to move the phone from her ears.

  "Hey! You wanna make me deaf?"

  "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm just too excited." She sniffled, eyes getting teary.

  "I mean I thought I did pretty bad during the presentation, I almost lost hope."

  "No girl, I told you. You deserve it. You worked so hard for it, and you got it. So chin up and get a badass dress prepared for tomorrow. We are shutting that place down."

  "Of course I will... I love you bitch."

  "I love you more."

  And the call ended.

  This was the best night of her life and exactly what she needed at that point. Motivation; she jumped to her feet as though she had just received adrenalin shot and started to tidy her room.

  Twenty minutes later, she was done. Her room looked alive once again. She nodded with satisfaction. Now I can sleep in peace, she thought. She took a quick shower and settled down to sleep. A few minutes later, she was already fast asleep.

  Katherine woke up with a gnawing, painful feelings in her stomach. She held the upper left side of her abdomen tightly and grunted, trying to sit up. Hunger pang. She picked up her wristwatch on a table by her bedside, to check the time. 2 am. The last thing she remembered eating was a simple lunch of BBQ chicken salad and a cup of Americano just after she spoke to her father and that was all. She had been too excited the previous night that she forgot to eat. Perhaps there will be something to eat in the fridge. With that thought, She stood up from the bed and crept out of her room. The lights were out, and she didn't bother to put them on because she didn't want to wake anybody up. She opened the fridge, and you could see a huge smile on her face as the light shined. Her father had stocked it up with food and snacks. How thoughtful was he? She took a bottle of soda, raised her head and gulped it down. Before she could finish, she saw a figure standing in the dark. She froze. She tried to scream but as she opened her mouth, the drink filled her throat, and some came out through her nose. She choked.

  "Take it easy, would you?" Jake said, rubbing Katherine's back. He had stepped out of his room because he was unable to sleep. That usually happened whenever he changed the environment. He heard a sound coming from the kitchen and had decided to check it out when he saw Katherine, stealing food.

  The way he rubbed her back brought back some memories. That was what He always did for her whenever she had a problem swallowing. She just squatted there enjoying the feeling. Then she suddenly remembered his presence. She yanked his hands off her back immediately, and she regained balance.

  "What the hell are you doing here? Didn't you leave last night?"

  He chuckled.

  "I guess Tom hasn't told you yet."

  "Told me what?"

  "Why don't you find out from him?"

  That arrogance. Ugh, she hated it.

  "Why don't you tell me yourself, since you're right here?"

  "I'm going to be staying here for a while until I settle down."

  Katherine paced up and down her father's room. It was already morning.

  "Come, sit. Stop pacing; you're going to make me dizzy this way."

  "I'm not sitting. How could you do this to me? What happened to tell each other everything? I'm hurt!"

  "I thought I mentioned it; I guess it slipped." Kathy knew it didn't.

  "I'm sorry honey but it was only proper for me to offer him a place to stay for the meantime. I mean there are enough rooms in this house, it wouldn't hurt having someone occupy one of them. And it's just temporary I promise."

  She felt a bit convinced.

  "You're just too nice that I can't even stay mad at you." She turned to leave.

  "I'm gonna be late for work... and speaking of work! I got chosen for Awake!" She squeaked loudly. Her father exclaimed.

  "I always knew you could do this! Congrats cupcake. Your mother would be so proud of you."

  She smiled faintly. She would.

  Katherine drove to work deep in thought. She couldn't stop thinking about the whole scenario. Jake's voice kept ringing in her head.

  I'll be staying for a while! I'll be staying for a while!! I'll be staying for a while!!!

  She turned into the parking lot and parked her car in her space. She walked out and saw Ashley.

  "Ash!"

  Ashley turned to see who it was.

  "Hey, morning! You're quite early today," she called out, pretending not to know the reason. Katherine walked up to her.

  "Oh am I?" They both giggled. Then Katherine sighed loudly. Ashley could notice a sudden change in her mood.

  "Is everything okay? You look stressed."

  "Trust me; I am beyond stressed."

  "What is wrong? Is it your father?"

  "Unfortunately... it is. You won't believe what I'm about to tell you." She paused. She didn't even know how she was going to say it.

  "You remember the maniac I almost killed yesterday? The one that almost made me late, the arrogant one?"

  "Of course. Your one minute crush. How can I forget?"

  "Ugh stop calling him that" Her face suddenly turned red. How could she have been attracted to someone like him, even if it was a split second? She was angry at the thought, but for some reasons, it made her blush.

  "Okay fine.
What about him?"

  "Turns out Mr. arrogant is my supposed stepbrother." Before Ashley could ask further, she added.

  "Susan had a son from her previous marriage, and that's him."

  Ashley exclaimed.

  "Shoot me... are you serious?"

  "Do you know the most interesting part? He's going to be staying at the house temporarily. Father said he could."

  Ashley burst into laughter; she couldn't control it. This was like a scene from a movie which she had seen countless times.

  "This is hilarious. I honestly can't stop laughing."

  "It isn't funny. How can you even laugh at my predicament?"

  They stepped out of the elevator.

  "So how have you guys done so far, like in getting to know each other?" Ashley asked.

  "What? Why would I want to know him?" She scoffed. She didn't think she needed to. She would be on her own, and as long as he did the same, there would be no problem whatsoever.

  Just as they were about to enter her office, then George stopped then.

  "The boss wants to see you for a formal introduction."

  "Oh really?" Katherine adjusted her dress and asked Ashley.

  "How do I look?'

  "Perfecto. Just a little bit of this...and this and you're good to go," she said, adjusting her make up.

  "I hear there's a company dinner tonight," George said.

  "Me too," Ashley added. George leaned in a whisper.

  "This is an exclusive. They are hosting it in your name, Kath Kath." That was what he always called her.

  " It's more of a surprise party to congratulate you. But... you have act surprised when they call you, we can't have anyone suspect."

  "Sure." Then she walked away to an office which had a tag Director on the door. She knocked on it, then opened it gently.

  "Come on in Cooper," a grey-haired man in his 60's said.

  The party was held at a five-star hotel with outstanding decorations and food. The music was exclusively classical with a live band. Several people were invited, some of which were from other T.V. stations and magazines, while the others were from CNS. There were chattering sounds all around. Langley, the vice president of CNS, walked over to the Mic, hit his wine glass with a fork and was able to get everyone's attention. He introduced Katherine as the woman of the day, while she acted all shocked as though she wasn't aware. He invited her over to deliver a speech. She walked over and said, "Thank you, Langley. Pheew, my God, I don't even know what to say. This is like a major surprise to me; I would've prepared a speech. But... I'll try to say whatever pops into my head," she lied. Earlier that day, she had spent a couple of hours preparing for the speech with Ashley.