Ch. 391..395: Forbidden Heat R18 Chapter 391-395

Chapter 391: Reiner – Personal and Professional

My place is around here but...

“It’s ok. There’s no need for you to do that. I can get back by myself. We don’t have the same destination anymore so there’s no need for you to go out of your way to drive me back. Thanks for the offer, though...” I declined politely before my eyes shifted to his large hand that was still holding the door close.

Do I have to enter into a wrestling match with him before I can open that door?

“You’re right...” Reiner said softly.

To my surprise, he removed his hand from the door and gave me some space. Well, it wasn’t like I could win against him in a wrestling match.

“Please send Queen my regards...and I’m sorry for being in your way all this time,” I said before I smiled a tight smile at him.

Before he could say anything, I opened the door and walked out of his office.

That night, I didn’t sleep well at all. I wondered what Reiner wanted from me and why he was suddenly acting kind towards me again. Thinking about it wasn’t going to give me any answers. I shut my eyes tightly as I lay on my bed and willed myself to go to sleep. For the hundredth time that evening, I tried to convince myself that I had made the right choice moving out here to live alone.

...

The next day, I decided to talk to Reiner about what I had learnt from talking to Charles. What we were doing by interviewing the agents wasn’t wrong and it should give us some insights. However, while we’re doing that, we can also look into the training history of the teams that lost a member. If it turns out that those teams did not get adequate training as a team before starting their mission, then it would be quite clear that more team-based training was needed.

After all, strong individual players put together doesn’t necessarily create the strongest team. Not everyone had synergies with each other. I reached for the doorknob to Reiner’s office before turning it and opening the door. I thought that I arrived quite early to work today; however, Reiner was already there right in front of my desk as if had been waiting for my arrival.

How long had he been waiting, I wondered.

“Good morning, Knight,” I greeted him politely before putting my bag down onto my desk.

“Good morning, Natalia,” he replied smoothly.

“Umm...I have a new idea about the project. Mind hearing me out?” I asked hopefully.

“Sure. Come into my office,” Reiner said with a nod.

He walked towards his personal office, and I followed after him after quickly grabbing my notepad and a pen from my desk. No matter what happens, I was determined to make progress on my work no matter what. If all else in my life fails, at least, I could say that I succeeded at my job.

“So, what was the idea that you came up with?” Reiner asked as he sat behind his desk and looked straight at me.

I quickly made my way to the chair opposite him and sat down on it. Facing him directly, I began telling him all the thing that I had learnt from Charles before adding in my own thoughts, opinions, and some next steps on what he could do from now on.

Reiner looked thoughtful after he had heard me out. Personally, I felt extremely happy that he was willing to hear me out until the very end of my lengthy explanation.

“I see. That is indeed interesting. It is also highly probably that that could be one of the main causes...” Reiner said as he seemed deep in thought.

“I know, right? It also isn’t that difficult for us to check and see if those teams that lost an agent had enough team-based trainings or not,” I quickly agreed.

“True. To be honest, I thought about this before and pulled some data regarding the training schedules and records for some teams,” Reiner said.

“You should have told me before...” I replied.

“Well, it was before you joined the company,” Reiner explained vaguely.

“Was that what you were working so hard on?” I inquired with interest.

“Partly...” he replied flatly.

“I see. Well, what was the results then?” I asked, curiously.

“Some teams really did lack team-based training while some didn’t train as a team at all before starting their mission,” Reiner stated.

“Really? Going on a mission without training? Why?” I asked, shocked at what I had just heard.

“Some individual agents don’t like training in teams...” Reiner replied sternly.

“Doesn’t that also mean that they also hate working as a team?” I asked, still in shock.

“Possible. Some people have worked alone for so long that they can’t even imagine what it’s like to work as part of a team,” Reiner said regrettably.

I wondered what Reiner was like and what experiences he had on the field. However, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know that side of him or not. It might be interesting, but it might scare me.

“What about you? Do you like working in a team?” I asked.

“Not at all. I only take solo missions unless King asks me to do otherwise,” Reiner replied honestly.

“Oh...I see...” I mumbled as I nodded my head.

It was the first time the Reiner ever talked to me about his missions apart from that one time when he told me about the mission that took my mother’s life. Reiner didn’t seem like he wanted to offer any more information on that topic, so I decided to shift my focus back to the work on hand.

“What do you think we should do next? Is there something that I can help look into?” I offered with a smile.

“I still think that talking to the relevant agents just like you suggested is the right move. We need to understand more about what they’re thinking. Even if we put trainings in place, it would be useless if they don’t cooperate,” Reiner replied thoughtfully.

“I see. I guess you’re right. Also, do we know or have the best team trainings?” I inquired since I didn’t know what trainings were available right now or how effective they were.

Chapter 392: Reiner – Need for an Expert

“That’s something that you can help me study and while you’re doing that, I’m going to reach out to some experts in this field to ask for their advice. Training courses need to be properly designed. We have money so we can invest in this,” Reiner said confidently.

“Ok. Let’s do that. I’ll help you look into what team trainings we have now,” I agreed readily.

“Don’t wander around the training grounds or facilities on your own. If you want to go, let me know and I’ll come with you,” Reiner ordered seriously.

“Ok. Sure, I’ll let you know...” I promised.

Just like that we both focused our efforts on working together to crack the problem in front of us. Despite the unfavorable development that I witnessed between Reiner and his fiancée and my confused involvement with Charles, our work wasn’t affected. Thankfully so.

Reiner seemed more open to me at work, and he turned out to be a very supportive boss. How he worked with me was very different from the dynamic that I had working with Edward. Edward was clearly my boss with everything that he said and did. He was outstandingly smart, efficient, and extremely strict at times. On the other hand, when I worked with Reiner, it felt like I was working with a friend more than my boss. We tended to work together and discuss things as we go. It reminded me of my time working on my university projects with the other students.

At the end of the day, I received a call from the secretarial department regarding a meeting for Reiner to meet with one of the experts that he had requested for. The meeting was scheduled for next week.

“It might be challenging for Knight to make it on time on that day...” I voiced my concern as I stared at his very packed schedule on that day.

“I know but this happens to be the only time that the expert is free. This expert is also the number one on Knight’s list. What should we do?” the woman on the other end of the line asked.

The problem was that the only date and time that the expert was available was right after Reiner’s other meeting. It was back-to-back, which meant that Reiner would definitely run slightly late to the meeting. Normally it wouldn’t be a big deal, but Reiner’s earlier meeting wasn’t in this building. It was in another place in the business district.

“Umm...normally, what are the options in this type of situation?” I asked the secretary who I assumed was more senior and experienced than I am.

“Well, if this is the only time slot then, you’ll have to come up with something to entertain the guest until your boss gets back,” the woman replied without a second thought.

“Umm...is it possible to push the meeting back by ten minutes so they can both start on time?” I asked.

“I don’t think so. It’ll just be weird...” the woman replied firmly.

“Ok...I’ll figure something out...” I replied, unable to find another way out.

“Great then. I’ll take it that it’s confirmed. Thanks for this, Natalia,” the woman thanked me and hung up.

How do old men or women like to be entertained? This person was an expert, so I assumed that he or she is older. Should I practice making some tea? Should I buy some cookies or some healthy snacks?

...

**Around a Week Later**

I had been so busy with work at the office that I had to skip out on working at the bar for most of the weekdays. That meant that I had to work on both days on the weekend to make up for my absence during the week. Kat complained a lot because she wanted to see me. She gave me a couple of calls during the week, and I told her regrettably that I was too busy with my fulltime job to work on my parttime one.

“You’re still busy this week at work?” Kat asked with a hint of complaint in her voice.

“Tomorrow there’s supposed to be a very important meeting for the project that I’m working on. So, I’m busy leading up to that too,” I replied.

“What about after that?” Kat asked.

“Things should get better. I should be freer. Sorry for not turning up to the bar more often. I’ll try my best, I promise,” I said.

“Sure sure. I hope you make it here before I start forgetting your face,” Kat said sarcastically.

“Yes, Ma’am...” I said before she hung up.

I sighed. The expert is coming tomorrow which meant that I had to figure out how to entertain him or her today. I headed out from my apartment to look around for some kind of healthy snack. Serving that with tea should help kill some time while the expert waited for Reiner to come back to the office. I had no idea how it would play out, but I would find out soon. Being a secretary was hard work.

...

“Please try to end the meeting on time and please hurry back, ok?” I reminded Reiner again as he was leaving the office to go off to his meeting.

“Ok. I’ll try...” Reiner replied before smiling a little at me.

“Ok. Please, please...try to come back on time,” I pleaded.

“Don’t worry. The expert isn’t going to bite your head off or anything, ok?” Reiner said with a laugh.

“Ok...” I replied.

Reiner gave me another smile before he headed out of the door. I watched him leave as I prayed that things would go well. After working on it for a week, it proved almost impossible for Reiner and me to come up with a training program. We had no experience when it came to training agents and even if we could think or dream up some program, we had absolutely no confidence that it was going to work. I just hoped that the expert wouldn’t end up feeling mad from waiting for too long. We really needed the expert’s help with this if we wanted to make any real progress.

“The expert is here. We’re heading up there right now,” the senior secretary that I talked to on the phone before informed me via call.

Chapter 393: Reiner – Entertaining the Expert

“Ok...” I mumbled.

The line clicked dead, and I looked around the still-empty office as I tried to collect my thoughts. Don’t panic, Natalia. Reiner will be back soon...

How soon? The expert is literally on the way here right at this instant. I looked at the clock hanging from the wall and found out that the expert was perfectly on time. Where is Reiner now?!

“Knight? Where you are right now?” I asked after the line connected.

“I’m in the car. I’m on the way back to the office,” Reiner replied.

“How much longer?” I asked anxiously.

“10 minutes or a little more...depending on the traffic,” Reiner replied casually.

That’s a long time, isn’t it?

“Ok. The expert is taking the elevator up here as we speak,” I reported.

“Good luck, Natalia...” Reiner said.

I stared at my mobile phone after Reiner had suddenly hung up on me. Guess someone just threw me under the bus here.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. The expert is here!

This is it, I thought to myself as I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. Honestly, I had no idea why I felt so nervous in meeting this expert, but I was nervous nonetheless. I opened my eyes and quickly plastered my most perfect smile on my face before opening the door.

“Welcome...” I said sweetly.

“...Natalia?”

Huh? Why is he here?

My perfect smile quickly transformed as my mouth hung open in shock. The voice that called my name was all too familiar and so was the man standing behind the senior secretary.

“Wow. Do you two know each other by any chance?” the secretary quickly jumped in.

Doesn’t she know how to read the atmosphere or the mood?

“Charles...” I whispered when my mouth could finally move.

Why is Charles here?

“You work here?” Charles asked and it was clear that he was finding it hard to believe too.

I found it hard to believe that the expert that we planned to rely on for our project was none other than Charles. Since we never really talked about our jobs, I didn’t know much about his work, and he didn’t know that I worked at this company. But seriously, this is such a small and round world that we live in.

“Yes, I work here. Oh, excuse my manners, please come inside. I...I’ll serve you tea and...healthy snacks...” I spurted out the first thing that came to mind.

What the hell am I saying? I know that I practiced this but why am I offering healthy snacks to Charles like he was some old professor or something?

Charles laughed a little at me and my nervousness as he followed me into the room. Reiner wasn’t back yet which meant that I had to entertain Charles until he arrived. The woman quickly excused herself, leaving me to take care of Charles. The door closed and it was just the two of us.

“Umm...” I murmured.

“There’s no need for tea...or healthy snacks, although I do appreciate it,” Charles said, sounding really amused.

“Oh...right. Sorry...” I apologized nervously.

That must have sounded very weird to him. I used to offer him beer at the bar and here I am offering him tea and healthy snacks.

“Why are you apologizing? There’s no need to act so shocked or nervous,” Charles said casually.

“I guess you’re right. I just...you know...I didn’t expect that it would be you...” I admitted truthfully.

“I didn’t expect Knight’s secretary to be you either,” Charles replied casually as he sat down on the sofa.

“Right. Good point, I guess,” I whispered, still shocked.

Wait a second! If Charles is the expert, then doesn’t that mean that he’s going to meet with Reiner, and it seems like they know each other? How small is the world seriously?! Then again, Charles knew Queen...

I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel. Everything was just so complicated. I mean, Reiner and I wasn’t dating or anything like that. Neither was Charles and I. Reiner wasn’t interested in me, but I guess I still am interested in him. He was engaged to someone else, though. His fiancée is super pretty and has beautiful hair. Charles is interested in me, and we kiss and made out a bit in his car.

Why do I have a feeling that this meeting is going to end in a full-scale disaster?

“Natalia...Natalia?” Charles called my name a couple of times.

“Y-Yes?” I replied with a stutter.

“What are you doing spacing out in the middle of work?” Charles teased.

“Sorry. I was just thinking of...random things...” I replied apologetically.

“You were talking about having a difficult time with your boss before. I guess that ‘boss’ that you were referring to was Knight, huh?” Charles said as he connected the dots with ease.

“Oh, yes. I didn’t know that you two know each other...” I replied while feeling uncomfortable of that fact.

“I know him quite well. We started working at around the same time,” Charles said with a firm nod.

If what he’s saying was true, then Charles must know a lot about Reiner and his work. What he used to work on and all that. I wondered if he would tell me more if I asked. I looked at Charles to find him smiling at me and I returned his smile with ease. Apart from the fact that Charles and Reiner would run into each other here, it wasn’t so bad that the expert turned out to be Charles. I was used to conversing with Charles and he was definitely knowledgeable about this topic. I just never thought that he would be considered an ‘expert’ at it.

If the meeting with Reiner goes well, then Charles will probably work with us on this project. That will mean that I’ll get to work with Charles, and I’ll get to see him more. I sighed when I thought about what the work dynamic between us three would be like.

“Why the depressing sigh?” Charles asked with his eyes on me.

“Oh...work is busy,” I replied, half honestly.

“I’ve missed seeing you at the bar,” Charles said quite seriously.

“Oh...you went there? I was so busy that I could only go on the weekends. I’m trying to sort out my work here so that I can help out more often over there...” I replied with a shy smile.

“That’s great. I look forward to spending more time with you...” Charles said brightly.

Chapter 394: Reiner – Caught in the Middle

“I didn’t know that you were an expert at the things that I asked you about. You must know so much about all this,” I said in appreciation.

“Not really. I just know a bit more than the other people...” Charles said humbly.

“Knight is taking a while. I guess, I’ll get you some of the cookies that I got after all. I sort of feel guilting for making you wait without offering you anything,” I said.

“Don’t worry about that. You talking to me is more than enough,” Charles said with a smile.

“Well...” I murmured.

“Sit down with me. Why are you still standing up?” Charles said invitingly as he patted the empty space on the sofa next to where he was seated.

“Thanks...” I said softly before sitting down on the sofa.

There were so many things that I wanted to ask Charles that I didn’t know where to start. I wanted to ask him about what he knew about Reiner, and I also wanted to ask him things related to the project.

“You look quite tired. Have you been getting enough sleep lately?” Charles asked as he reached out his hand and placed it adoringly on top of my head.

I smiled before laughing a little at his concerned face. It wasn’t anything serious, I just couldn’t sleep very well but Charles looked so worried that it was slightly amusing.

“I’m ok. You don’t have to worry,” I replied.

“If you say so...” Charles said tenderly as his hand stroked my hair.

“Charles...can you tell me more about...” I began saying before I had to stop midsentence.

The door opened quite loudly, and we both turned to see Reiner standing tall and proud in the doorway. Reiner is here already...

Wait! Reiner is here?!

The moment that I had dreaded had finally arrived and just as I had feared, I didn’t quite know what to do or how to act. More than anything, I didn’t know how to feel about the two men meeting face-to-face like this. That and the fact that Charles hand was still on top of my head.

This is for work. I repeated in my head as I watched Reiner’s face grow stern as his blue eyes narrowed when he saw me sitting on the sofa very close to Charles with him petting my head.

The door closed behind him with a firm thud and Reiner’s full attention was on us. It wasn’t like I had done anything wrong. The complete opposite was true, I was doing my job perfectly at entertaining our guest while I waited for Reiner to arrive. However, the look on Reiner’s face told me that he felt anything but pleased.

“Umm...Knight, Charles is here...” I mumbled.

Reiner’s eyes focused on my face before his gaze shifted to focus on Charles. I felt a chill run up along my spine at the intensity of his gaze.

“How do you two know each other?” Reiner asked coldly without bothering with any pleasantries.

I was about to open my mouth to explain the whole situation, but Charles placed a hand on my arm and began speaking before I could.

“You’re right, we both know each other. I’m a regular at the bar that she works at,” Charles replied casually.

“I see...” Reiner said, and I could feel his eyes on me as I tried to avoid his piercing gaze.

I had predicted that the atmosphere might get a little tense when the two met but, honestly, I never thought that things would get this suffocatingly tense between the two. The worst part was that I was caught in the middle.

“Umm...should we start the meeting?” I suggested in a small voice.

“Will you be working at the bar tonight?” Charles turned to ask me with a smile.

I was stunned at his question. Don’t tell me that he’s doing this on purpose. Did he catch on that Reiner isn’t simply just my boss?

“Umm...Yes, I’ll be there...” I replied with a polite smile.

I could feel Reiner’s gaze on me, and I felt his displeasure and his anger scorch me like a fire. Why is he so mad?

“Great. I’ll see you later tonight then. Sorry, I have to go now. Knight and I need to have our chat,” Charles replied with a smile as he got up from the sofa.

Charles turned to face Reiner and it felt like destructive explosions would go off when the two stood face-to-face with their eyes meeting. This is crazy...

However, now was the time for work and I had to act professional. I prayed that we all could act professional. Charles is here as an expert to help us with our project, and I wanted the project to be successful no matter what.

“Would it be possible for me to join the session like I did with the agent interviews?” I inquired politely.

Reiner’s eyes flew to my face, and I froze in place. Suddenly, I felt very cold. Had Reiner’s eyes ever been this scary before?

“No. You will wait outside,” Reiner replied.

I was shocked and intimidated by his gaze and how mad he seemed. It wasn’t often that I saw Reiner this mad, and I wasn’t used to it at all. Not knowing what to say, I just nodded slightly in acknowledgement.

“Don’t look so down. Knight and I will be done with our meeting in no time,” Charles said comfortingly before following Reiner’s lead into his personal office.

“Sure. See you later,” I replied politely.

The door closed after them, and I was the only one left in the room. A loud sigh left my lips and my legs felt so weak that I had to sit on the sofa for a while to recover from my shock. That didn’t go down well at all. Reiner suspected a lot of things and if my guess was right, then so did Charles.

I felt like I wasn’t in the wrong but somehow, I felt like I owed both men some kind of explanation to clear up the situation. However, the more I thought about it, I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to clear up a situation that wasn’t ‘cleared up’.

Chapter 395: Reiner – Silent Treatment

Reiner didn’t seem to like it that I knew Charles or that I was a little close to him, but he was engaged to someone else and wanted me to go away. Charles was interested in me, but I haven’t decided to progress with our relationship yet. Mostly because of my lingering feelings for Reiner.

How do I explain such a messed-up situation? The answer was simple: I couldn’t clear up anything.

Amazing. Truly amazing.

...

The hand of the clock is ticking by so slowly today. My eyes stared at the hand of the clock as the seconds ticked by. Was it just me or was the clock ticking much slower right now than on other days? I hated myself and how rotten I felt inside. I knew that it was my fault and not the clock’s fault that time was slipping by so painfully slowly. Since the two men went into Reiner’s office, all I was able to achieve was moving my ass from the sofa to the chair behind my desk.

From this location, I could stare up at the clock on the opposite wall like I had nothing else better to do in my life. The room was so silent that I could hear the sound of the clock ticking. How long is the meeting going to last? It was scheduled for an hour...does that mean that I have to stare at this clock for another 50 minutes? Only 10 minutes had passed?

I’m going crazy...

What are those two talking about? They’re just talking about work, and everything is going smooth and professionally well, right?

...they’re not talking about me, right?

I had my own immediate problems to work on too such as figuring out what kind of face to make or what to say when the two men finally step out of that room at the end of their meeting. Why did Reiner have to act so mad and aggressive like that? It was so abnormal and out of place, so obviously, anyone would have found it suspicious.

What should I do now?!

I banged my forehead onto the table in front of me before pulling at my long hair with both of my hands. So many worries went through my head that I didn’t know where to start. One thing for sure, Reiner is going to interrogate me endlessly about my relationship with Charles and then he’s going to give me a hard time for it. Although he doesn’t have the right to do so, he probably will...

By the time that the door to Reiner’s personal office opened, I had burned out almost all of my braincells while trying to figure out how to best deal with this overly complicated situation. When the two men walked out of the door, I didn’t have it in me to initiative any type of conversation. I just stood up from my desk and plastered on a polite smile.

“Thank you for meeting me today,” Reiner said professionally.

He didn’t sound super friendly but at least he was professional enough about it. The hostility that he eluded wasn’t completely gone but it seemed well under control now. It better be, it has been more than an hour already. Their meeting ran over time, and I was thankful that Reiner didn’t have another meeting to go to. As for me, I just wanted to go home. Screw working at the bar for tonight, I just want to hide away from the world. Kat’s going to kill me but that was way better than risking Reiner’s wrath.

“Likewise. The discussion was fun and I’m very hopeful about this project. Let’s work together,” Charles replied equally professionally.

I stayed silent throughout their entire exchange. Reiner reached out his hand and Charles took it in a formal handshake. The two seemed to be getting along well on the surface; however, there was a lot of tension in the air, and it felt like a snowy blizzard had just blown into the room although the windows were not even open and there wasn’t a snowstorm outside. It wasn’t even snowing, and I didn’t even know if it snowed on this island. Probably not.

“I’ll see you at the bar, Natalia,” Charles said before beaming a smile at me.

“Umm...sure. Feel free to drop by some time...” I replied stiffly.

With a nod my way, Charles left the room, and I was left alone with Reiner. Was it just me or did Charles’ overly familiar and personal farewell to me just made matters worse for me?

I could feel Reiner’s stare burning into my back and knew that he was glaring at me from behind. Great, how do I face him now? I prayed that he wouldn’t ask me any questions because I didn’t have any satisfactory answers to give him. Honesty didn’t seem to be a virtue that would work well in this case.

Slowly and hesitantly, I turned to face Reiner. I bit my lower lip as he stared at my nervous and uncomfortable face. Reiner did not say anything as his eyes continued staring at me.

“Umm....” I murmured as I tried to figure out how to break this silence between us before it killed me.

To my utmost surprise, Reiner turned away from be before disappearing into his personal office. The door closed behind him firmly and I was left all alone once more in the room. My head cocked slightly to the side as I stared at the closed door in wonder.

What is going on now?

For some reason that I couldn’t phantom, Reiner refused to talk to me and had decided to spend the rest of the day in his office. Perhaps he just wanted time alone to work. That was what I told myself although I knew that that probably wasn’t true at all. He’s intentionally avoiding me, and I couldn’t say that he was acting like himself.

I had expected that he would deal with this head on and ask me some very interrogative questions; however, that wasn’t the case. Although I was confused and slightly worried, I was also relieved that I didn’t have to get into another argument with Reiner.

That day, I left work and headed home alone. Reiner did not come out of his office, and I did not see him before leaving. The eventful workday came to an uneventful close.