THE BUSINESS MAN'S MYSTERIOUS SECRET

CHAPTER- 2: THE MYSTERIOUS INTERVIEW

The Black Tower didn't look an office. It looked like a warning.

Sixty floors of black glass that reflected no sky.People in Kolkata called it the building that doesn't sleep, because the light on the top floor- Dravid Grover's floor- never went off.

Allisha stood in front of it with a file that was held together by a single safety pin.Her white saower had been washed three times for this day.Her shoes were borrowed from her cousin.And inside her bag,her phone was vibrating every five minutes- her mother calling from the hospital.

She needed this job.Not wanted.Needed.

"Name?" the security guard asked without looking up.

"Allisha Denial. 11 a.m interview. For the personal assistant position. "

He finally looked up, scanned her from head to toe,and pressed a button. "Top floor,don't touch anything. "

The lift ride was the longest 45 seconds of her life.When the doors opened, the entire floor was silent. No typing. No chatter.Just cold air conditioning and a smell of expansive wood.

A woman in a sharp black suit approached her."Allisha,Mr.Grover is waiting. Listen to me carefully. Don't sit until he tells you do.Don't ask about salary.And don't ,under any circumstances, look at the photographs On his desk."

"Photographs? " Allisha whispered. But the woman had already left.

The double doors were huge.Allisha pushed them.They were heavier than she expected.

Dravid Grover was not looking at her.He was standing with his back to her,looking out the entire city through the glass wall.Tall,Black shirt.Sleeves folded.Hair perfectly set.Everything about him said- I own this place and everyone in it.

"Sir,I am Allisha-"

"You are late by two minutes ",he said.His voice was calm,but it cut.

" Sorry,the traffic... "

"I don't like excuses."

He turned.And for a second, Allisha forgot how to breathe.

He was handsome, yes but not movie-star way. His face was sharp,cold,like it was carved to never smile.His eyes were gray.Not blue,not brown like a strom.

"You're confident," he said.It wasn't a compliment. It was an observation.

Allisha tightened her grip on her file."I need this job,Mr.Grover.My family needs me."

He walked to his desk and finally sat down.He didn't ask her to sit."You have no experience. Your resume is one page.You worked at a bookstore for six months.why should I hire you?"

Most girls would have cried.Allisha had practiced this answer in the birthroom mirror for three nights."Because I learn quickly. And because I won't quit.The other girls who came before me,they wanted a luxury life.I just want to survive. That makes me more loyal.

For the first time,his eyebrow raised slightly. He opened her file.Saw the cheap paper.Saw the safety pin."You'll work six days a week.Sometimes seven.You'll get calls at 2 a.m."

"That's fine."

"You'll live here.In this tower on the 59 th floor.My assistant needs to be available whenever I need her."

Allisha's heart stopped. "Live....here?"

"Yes,that is nonnegotiable."

This was strange. No assistant lives in the boss's building. But the salary written on the offer letter on his desk was three times what she had expected. With that money,her mother's operation could happen next week.Her little brother could go back to school.

Her voice broke."Why me? there must be hundreds of more qualified girl."

Dravid started at her for a long long time.So long that Allisha felt uncomfortable. His eyes were not on her resume.They were on her face.On her eyes.On her left eyebrow.There was a tiny scar there.A very small,faded scar from her childhood. She didn't even remember how she got it.

"You'll know soon,he said softly.Then his cold mask returned." The job is yours.If you want it."

"I...I want it.Thank you Mr.Grover.Thank you so much."

She was about to leave when he said from behind, without looking up, "Have we met before?"

Allisha turned, confused. "I don't think so,Sir.I would have remembered.

She left.The heavy doors closed with a soft thud.

The second the doors closed, Dravid Grover changed.The cold CEO was gone.His hands were shaking.

He stood up violently and looked the door.He pulled open the drawer on his desk -yhe drawer no one was allowed to touch.The drawer his secretary had been warned would get her fiered instantly. Inside was a single old photograph.Faded at the edges. Taken twenty years ago.In it,a young woman was holding a little girl of five years old. The little girl had big eyes,messy hair and a small scar above her left eyebrow.

The same eyes, the same face.The same scar.



Allisha.

His lips parted."It's really you."He whispered. His voice, for the first time in ten years, was not cold.It was scared." You come back."

His phone rang.A private number.He knew who it was.

He picked it up.

"Did she arrive? " The old man's voice on the other side was rough.

"Yes,father."

"Does she know who she is?"

"No."

A pause.Then,"Good. Keep it that way.Because if she remembers the past,if she remember that night, everyone is in danger.You,me and especially her."

Dravid looked at the photo again.At the little girl who was smiling without knowing her entire family would be dead the next morning.

"Then I'll make sure she never remembers", he said.His eyes became cold again.Colder than before.

He put the photograph back and slammed the drawer shut.

Outside the room,Allisha suddenly stopped walking. She had heard something. A voice. A name?. She wasn't sure.She slowly turned toward Dravid's office. The hallway was empty and too silent. The air felt heavy,like someone was watching her.

For a second she felt a strange headache. A flash.Fire.A woman screaming her name. But not Allisha.Another name " Ella!Run!"

She held her head."What was that....."

The secretary appeared out of nowhere."Miss Denial? Your room is ready.Please come with me. Mr.Grover doesn't like people standing near his office."

Allisha nodded and walked away. Her heart was beating too fast.

A lot was going on in Allisha's mind-what was that name,why did Dravid appoint her and why did that woman call her "Ella run?".And where did Dravid's Secretary come from,telling her that she cann't stand in front of his office? What kind of maze is she trapped in?Why does it feel like this man has known her for a long time? She kept thinking about all this.

She didn't know it yet.She had just walked into a job interview.

But in reality, she had just entered a story that had began twenty years ago, with a fire,a dead family, and a little girl who was supposed to have died that night.

And the man who just hired her was the only one who knew she was still alive.