Chapter Two

Daniela's POV

I fidgeted in my seat as person after person got called to the panel. It was the day of the interview. I was on time, I was prepared. In short, everything was in order, but I couldn’t stop panicking.

First because, I felt out of place. All the people with me in the interviewee’s waiting area seemed more put together than I was. Anyone with good eyes would choose any other person in the room over me, by just looking. Yes, I was insecure about this and many other things, but this wasn’t even the main issue.

Second, this was Jackson Industries, JI, a big-time chain of fashion companies that dealt in clothes, jewellery and scents. I was applying for a secretarial position but this was still an environment that was more out of my league than anything. I didn’t even think I would be picked to be a cleaner here. Still, this wasn’t what was bothering me.

Later that day, after crying on my aunt’s shoulder, I had locked myself in my room and gone over the email, mainly to push Justin and Charlene out of my mind. It was only then I realised I never sent my CV to JI. I understood we were allowed to dream big and all, but how could I, a twenty-two-year-old with a business administration degree and a secretarial diploma, dream of working at such a place. No matter how much I thought about it, there was just no way I could’ve sent them my resume. Not even if I was drunk. This only led me to one person.

Justin had his own accounting firm, and had connections in so many places. He was definitely the one behind this, since I couldn’t imagine another way of me getting accepted for an interview here.

I hadn’t spoken to him since that day at the café, but here I was using his favour. I didn’t know what to think. Every time I had a reason to see him as a bad person, something like this happened, so if I decided to leave, I looked like the selfish person.

He cheated on me. Again. With my best friend. But somehow, my heart couldn’t fault him. Somehow, I couldn’t stop loving him.

I was pathetic.

“Daniela Stevens?”

That was enough to halt my running thoughts.

I stood up, and followed the coordinator. When we got to the corridor of the room the lady who went in before me rushed past me, clearly shaken and disappointed. Really, what made me think I stood a chance?

“Knock and enter,” she told me and left me alone in the hallway.

I did as told, and entered the room after a prompt. It was a small conference room. There were three men already seated. The youngest, but most arrogant looking on them sitting at the head of the table, with the others flanking him on each side. With no particular expression arrogant sir gestured for me to take a seat opposite him at the other end of the table.

“Thank you,” I said meekly after sitting.

“Daniela Stevens,” my full name was mentioned again, and there I decided I didn’t like this place at all. How could the mere mention of my own name get me nervous all over again?

I responded nonetheless. “Yes, that’s me.”

He made a show of looking through the papers in front of him before looking back at me. “Are you sure you want this job?”

I frowned before I could control my reactions. I didn’t know what was the right answer to that question but I doubt the “excuse me?” that I blurted about was close to a good response.

Surprisingly, he gave a war

m smile and sat back in his chair. “I see here that you have a business admin degree. I would think you’d want to do something more finance related, since that’s what you specialised in.”

I opened my mouth to answer, but what proper reply could I give when I wasn’t the one who made the application? But I didn’t have to say anything. The door suddenly opened and another man in a suit walked into the room.

“Jason, you’ll have to excuse yourself from-”

His eyes roamed over me briefly and then his words paused as he did a double take of me.

After it had dawned on me that Justin made this application for me, I had accepted to go with it and then did some research on the company, and that’s how I came across this man who was staring at me right now.

Alexander Jackson was the founder and CEO of JI and he was well known across the country and even beyond, well except to me of course. For some reason, the moment I saw his picture, my mind had gone into an endless cycle of trying to associate him with something I had seen, but I couldn’t pinpoint why. It waved it off as him probably being one of the hot CEOs Charlene drooled over on a daily basis, but it all made sense now that I was seeing him in person.

I swallowed. This was what had got me panicking from the beginning. This was the main issue. This was the man who dominated my nights, more times than was considered normal.