The CEO's Painted Skin

Catherine just finished her shift in the restaurant. She took off her uniform, changed into her blouse and rushed out of the restaurant's restroom to head home.

Outside the restaurant, manager Jerome was already waiting for her.

Jerome has taken a liking at Catherine and wanted to court her. He is a 28 years old good looking guy. He's been texting and calling Catherine non stop since last week, much to her chagrin.

Sad to say, Catherine has no romantic feelings for him. Her main focus nowadays is finding a good high paying job, not finding a boyfriend!

"Catherine, I will accompany you home," he offered.

Catherine shook her head. She already rejected his love offering in text and every time he calls her.

"Jerome, please stop offering me your love. I don't entertain suitors right now. I'm not ready to have a boyfriend. I'm enjoying my freedom right now," she had explained her reasons to Jerome a hundred times already, still, the smitten guy doesn't get it.

"I will wait for the time you will get ready Catherine. Just don't push me away. I'm willing to wait for the right time no matter how long, maybe one day you can learn to love me," his face was that of an adorable puppy.

Catherine eyed Jerome up and down, the guy blushed with her open appraisal of his body. Actually, Jerome is a good boyfriend material, a good looking guy, got a high paying stable job, and a true gentleman.

But she is not ready for a serious relationship. Not yet!

"Let's go, Catherine, I will bring you to your home now. Your mother is already waiting for you," he ignited the engine of his motorbike and slide the helmet onto his head.

Catherine hesitated to ride on his motorbike. But in the end, she finally rides at the back of his motorbike due to his persuasion, anyways she's wanting to go home early, she has nothing to lose.

Allan who was watching Catherine and Jerome a few meters from them called his boss right away.

"Allan..."

"Good evening Sir, I just saw Catherine ride on a guy's motorbike..."

"Huh?" Jhon's voice grows cold instantly.

"Who is this guy?"

"The manager of the restaurant, Sir. They both work on the same restaurant."

"Where are they now?"

"I think they are going home to Catherine's house."

"Follow them now! Make sure he sends Catherine home," John said.

"Yes Sir," replied Allan.

The line went dead.

John was bothered by the current developments in Catherine's life. She sure has lots of admirers surrounding her. It made him edgy with jealousy.

He went to the swimming pool area and dive for a swim without even bothering to change into his swimwear.

After all of his restless energy was spent on swimming, he got out of the swimming pool, took a shower and changed into dry clothes.

He lay down in his bed and swipe at his cell phone.

He was surprised when he received a text from Catherine five minutes ago. The message was empty and only contains a single smiling emoji.

She must be wondering why he no longer sends her any messages.

He smiled. He wants Catherine to miss him bad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ON THE OTHER SIDE, Catherine lay down in her bed watching her iPhone. She's been staring at it for a hundred times. When she inserted John's sim card awhile ago, she was surprised that he did not send her even a single text for the whole week. On impulse she sends him an empty message, she was waiting for his reply that almost never comes.

She was about to detach his sim card when his iPhone beep, a message! She immediately checked the message, to her chagrin John sent her an empty message as well.

Karma!

Grrrr! She suddenly feels furious!

She sent him 5 angry emoji...

He replied with 5 angry birds emoji on his own.

Catherine bit her lower lip staring at her iPhone.

She sends a tongue out emoji...

Five minutes passed, he was still not replying.

Then finally she got a message from him, and she reads it right away.

"Miss me, Catherine?"

"Wanna play?"

Catherine stared at his message frowning...biting her lip. Should she reply? What does he mean by 'wanna play?'

She was confused about what to text...

"Play what--?" she finally replied to him.

"If I can tell you your current cell phone number, would you see me again?"

Catherine was dumbfounded. It would be impossible for him to know her current number. She bravely types...'yes' and send it to John.

...

John, on the other hand, was smiling from ear to ear in his bed. He typed her current cell phone number "09154602437" that Allan forwarded to him fifteen minutes ago and he sends the message to Catherine right away.

...

Catherine's eyes widened upon seeing her cell number written accurately on John's reply. OMG, he knows my number! Dang! How come he knows my number?

Crap! She needs to change sim card again!

She immediately turns off her iPhone, detach his sim card, afraid he will suddenly call her.

She lay down on her bed, her heart was beating fast. A feeling of dread combined with excitement filled her senses.

Does John finally able to track her down?

Maybe not! Maybe he was just guessing and got lucky he was able to accurately guess her new number!

There is only one way to find out!

She inserted his sim card again into her iPhone and send another text message to him.

"You know my exact address now?"

She immediately received a reply text from him.

"Yes!"

Catherine's body froze! How come? My God, how come he knew of my address? She typed again.

"Tell me where I am residing now?"

A moment later John replied. "Morales Avenue, 18th street, fourth door, Rosales room for rent building."

Oh---God! He accurately provided her the exact address of their new rented home. She was shocked and her body was shaking in nervousness.

"H-how much you know about my current condition?" she asked again.

"I know you're working in 'Yummy Diners Restaurant' as a waitress..."

Dang! He knows a lot about her. How come he found her? She fleed away from him, hoping to start a new life away from the village. She was meant to forget him and everything that happened between them!

She is suddenly suffering from a headache...she started typing.

'What do you want from me?'

'I want a second chance with you. I want you!' John replied.

'Stay away from me, Jhon!'

'Let's meet again Catherine! I wanna see you again!'

Catherine sighed deeply, she typed another message. "Please leave me alone!"

"No. I can't!" was Jhon's firm reply.

"It's either I will come to you or you will meet me! Choose Catherine!"

Now that he knew everything about her. It will be easy for John to pester her. She can't possibly relocate to another city because she likes the community where she and her family was currently residing. She needs to go straight into the heart of the matter and tell John to back off 'coz she doesn't want him in her life.

Just when she thinks her life was finally heading in the right direction, her dark past catches up with her. She sighed again. She covered her face with her hands totally annoyed and flabbergasted.

"Okay. I will meet you this Sunday at the town's Plaza, afternoon 4:00 PM on three conditions, you can't touch me, you can't kiss me and no sex!" she sends the text to him.

...

John replied. 'Yes, I will comply with all your conditions. I promise I will be a good boy. Can't wait to see you!" and he spiced up his message with 3 heart emoji, his intention and feelings were clear.

...

Catherine just stared at his message. Her heart was racing up in a chaotic tumble!

They were going to meet again!

Her iPhone beep again, she received another message from him.

"Goodnight, sweet dreams, I love you Catherine!" was his last message for her that night.

She placed her mobile device above the cabinet and lay back in her bed and forced herself to sleep. Her heart, she can't understand how it beats erratically everytime she thinks of him. He can turn her life upside down in just a matter of seconds and she might as well be heading into another roller coaster ride if she meet John again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IN JOHN'S BEDROOM, he stared at his cell phone, amused. His face was filled with glowing happiness and excitement. As if every tiny cell of his body were getting excited and fired up with the thoughts of his future meet up with Catherine.

Yes! He will finally see Catherine again! after long nights of torture and longing he will see his dear Catherine again.

The smile was plastered on his lips. He browses on the photo section of his mobile device and gazed at her photos. Then he played their sex video while his right hand reached inside his pants and squeezed his manhood. Catherine's moaning and his grunting that emanated from the video filled the entire room, his hand was getting busier as minutes pass by.